


SEAL Team - A Reputation to uphold

by MirandaForever



Series: Reputation to uphold [1]
Category: SEAL Team (TV), navy seal - Fandom
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bravo - Freeform, Control, Danger, Desert, Developing Relationship, Drama, Drama & Romance, Emotions, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Flirting, Forbidden Love, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Military, Minor Character Death, Power Dynamics, Relationship(s), Rescue Missions, Rivalry, SAS, SEALteam, Secret Relationship, Sex, Special Air Service, Strong Female Characters, Suspense, Teasing, Unresolved Emotional Tension, bravoteam, jasonhayes, navyseals, selfpleasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2020-07-25 19:53:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 44
Words: 151,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20031427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirandaForever/pseuds/MirandaForever
Summary: BRAVO start a 3 month deployment but when Jason falls for a strong willed woman on the base, will their secret affair put him at odds with one of his superiors, causing problems for his team. Sonny & Clay are involved in an explosion, which has far reaching consequences for everyone and will a friends shared confidence lead Clay to more trouble? A story that includes friendship, lust,love and rivalry.(18+ ADULT themes) Please comment I love reading them. Great inspiration to write more!





	1. Time for something new

_ ** ** _

**If offended by reading adult themes/swearing please turn back. If you're not then, please carry on :)**

Deployment in the desert could be boring. Deployment, in the desert with no sex, was even more boring.  
  
Ellis Baxter is a woman with needs. She knows her own mind –and body. Sexually experienced, experimental, and insatiable. When she wants it, well she makes damn sure she gets it. And not only does she satisfy her needs, but her desires too. That said, she wasn't averse to a quick fuck just for the hell of it.   
A woman being this honest about her own needs - wanting and enjoying sex, wasn’t something that earns her a great reputation. Men think she's an easy lay and women think she's a slut. She's neither.   
The reality - she hasn't slept with as many men as the rumors, and that because she's choosy about who she sleeps with. She likes strong, confident men in positions of power. Men who know what they like, _and _what she likes. She also likes control. She doesn't do submissive, yeah sure, she can play that role for fun - hell it's lead to some great sex, but when she does, it's her choice and still part of her control. As for being an easy-lay, that was one thing she isn't. The men she sleeps with, have to work hard, put the effort in or they don’t get in her panties. And though she will say she doesn't enjoy being tied to one man, she's always faithful. Her last long-standing partner only recently ended. Their affair starting as an exciting, but dangerous, game of teasing, him risking his distinguished career to be with her. Becoming emotionally invested had cost them, and it was him that decided they needed to end it.

Now, being here alone, she was restless. Deployment boredom had set in. There was no-one she wanted to fuck – and no-one that she did that hadn't before. And it’s time for something new. A challenge. Someone who could make her wet just thinking about them. That's why she smiled when she heard team Bravo was being deployed here for three months.   
Today was the day of their arrival and she was ready for the mission ahead. And a warm feeling spread between her legs as she thought about it - to find out if Bravo-One's reputation, between the sheets, was equal to that of his one as a team leader.   
Ellis knew his reputation, and she wanted him. She wanted him in her bed. She wanted to be in control of him, and she was ready for the challenge.

Stood in the glow of the late setting sun, she's watching as the C-17 arrives. The crews offloading their cargo while she does her job – signing and checking the manifest sheets for supplies she’d requested. Ellis' job – Senior Requisitions Officers – it was for her to ensure the base had what it needed. The wants of everyone deployed for her to take care of.   
She prided herself on her reputation to meet demands. No matter how bizarre, she would meet it. Whether that be a special can of diet soda or a sex toy, she was proud that in all her time here she'd never yet failed to meet a request - even when it included a six-foot inflatable dinosaur! 

Watching as the last flight arrives. The one she's been waiting for. The one with the specialist units onboard - the one with BRAVO Team on it.

It's late. The desert sun low, setting below the horizon. Ellis watching as they unload their kit. Normally the specialist teams have their own personnel, but this deployment, Bravo is without a logistics operator. And that means she will handle their requests and ensuring their needs are fulfilled. She’s hoping to make an impression, hoping if it goes well she might apply for a permanent role and finally get out of this sandbox.

She smiles. He’s so obvious she notices him right away. Tall - six-four, ruggedly built, wearing a tight khaki tee that clings against this chest, showing his muscles, he’s just as described. Now walking toward her, he has a cool but arrogant swagger about him. Keeping his sunglasses on, ignoring the smiling welcome from the base fangirls as his team crosses the tarmac. He acts like it means nothing, but she knows, under that cool exterior, is a man who's loving the attention. If asked honestly, he'd admit it he loves the appreciative adulation - it turns him on.   
Ellis made sure she looked her best today -given it’s the desert and military fatigues are a must she didn’t have a lot to work with, but pulling her white vest down, as far as is legally acceptable, she tucks it in making sure she's displaying her ample cleavage to its best effect. Then, confident in her stance, legs slightly apart, her hand on hip, shades covering her eyes - she stares at him, and smiles. Watching as they stride past her, – she ignores him, the only thing she moves her eyes, well hidden under her sunglasses. Then barking authoritative orders to the subordinates in her charge – distributing newly arrived shipments around the base. She smiles. He's checking her out.

_ONE – ZERO.   
  
_Keeping a score in her head. This is a competition. Her awarding points to which of them has the most control. She wants to find out if he lives up to his reputation, and she's about to up the game, embarking on a major flirtation offensive with him.   
  
The reward? Jason Hayes in her bed.

~ # ~

Jason frowns. He turns to his left looking at Sonny, as they stride across the tarmac towards their accommodation. “So, who’s that?"   
Sonny smiles. The fact Jason mentions her means she aroused his interest. "That’s Ellis Baxter. She has quite a reputation, from what I hear. She can get you _anythin'_ you want on this base, I've heard some strange tales, believe me! "  
"Really?" Jason cocks an eyebrow and smiles. "Well, maybe I'll have to think of some requests of my own?" Sonny nods, grinning as they look at each other. "What? Oh no… please tell me you've not been there already?"  
"Who, me? No, she's well outta my league. A word of advice…” he smiles, " ignore the rumors, she's actually pretty damn choosy who she sleeps with - definitely no easy lay!"  
Ray's listening to their continued conversation "You know Jace, you're gonna be playin' with fire there, brother!"  
“Oh, c'mon Ray, who doesn't like to get a little close to the flame now and again?”  
“Yeah, well don't say I didn't warn ya, cos right there is trouble!”  
"Hey, what are we talkin' about?" Clay, just catching the end of the conversation, frowns.  
"Oh, go back to sleep kid." Sonny laughs, mocking him, " this is grown-up talk!” Sonny turns his head, checking behind, looking at her. "Anyway it looks like you got her attention. Oh, she's smooth, the way she's wearin' that shirt - definitely for your benefit."  
Jason smiles, biting his teeth against his lip. Taking his sunglasses off as he turns around, he walks backward so he can look at her. "Alright then boys, let's go find where we're bunking for this ride!"

Facing the direction, they're headed, she watches as they walk away. Gazing at him over the top of her sunglasses, she smiles. Awarding herself another point - the fact he took his glasses off to look at her.

_TWO - ZERO!_


	2. My Apple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note this does contain adult themes/ erotic fan fiction so if that not your thing then please don't read 18+

**Lunchtime.**

Ellis is filling her plate with a selection of various foods from the vast array the canteen buffet has to offer when there’s suddenly a wave of low mumbling noise behind her. Murmurings that fill the open space of the hangar and she turns around, looking at the numerous personnel seated behind her, and smiles - BRAVO are back!

Whenever the SEAL teams arrive on base it causes a stir. Deployment, the desert, the confines of the base. All pretty boring and people get their kicks any way they can. The specialist teams bring an extra level of excitement to an otherwise dull day. BRAVO - is today's entertainment.  
She grins, watching them. The bullish swagger as they enter the room, it causes the chatter decibels in the canteen to ratchet up a notch. Rumors abound, people, discuss where they may have been or what they might have been doing.   
"God, I'm fuckin' starvin!'" Sonny moans as he loads up a plate with food from the buffet selection. He's dusty, dirty and from the amount of food, he puts on his plate - hungry. Eating was the priority.  
Ellis noticed they've been gone over two days. So, whatever they were doing, her guess - it was important. The next thing she notices is the younger of the team. He's much more selective with his choices. Still hungry - she can see that from the way he bites large chunks from the bagel in his hand, but much pickier about what else he adds to the plate. She smiles - he's cute. His messy blonde curls are filthy dirty and laced with yellow sand.   
She grins continuing to stare at him. A thick-set boy, growing into a man's body. She can see by the size of the muscles on his bare arms - one of which is bandaged, this is a guy who takes care of himself. And even though his face is covered in grime and dirt, she can see he has the most perfect smile.   
He looks up and notices her. Watching, he flashes her one of those smiles and she sighs as she smiles back at him, wondering if maybe she chose herself the wrong target.   
“_Too easy! Still, can’t hurt to put him on a reserve list -just in case. __He has a unique and youthful charm.__   
_Sonny frowns as he watches her looking at Clay. The way she's checking him out, “O_h lady, forget it… you'd ruin him!”_ He smiles, as he continues to pile food on his plate. He’d heard the gossip about her before they even got here. That she was insatiable in the bedroom, game to experiment and that there was, _allegedly_, a video of her doing kinky stuff with a high-ranking officer from this base. Were the rumors true? He didn't know. And now he'd promised himself to someone else, he wouldn't be finding out - though if asked he would admit, Ellis Baxter was hot! The idea of adding her to his bedding list was something he wished he’d thought about. But one thing he did know, despite the rumors and salacious chatter, she was choosy about who she let get in her panties and that meant Jason would be making a selective list.   
Oh yeah, the moment Sonny saw Jason checking her out on the tarmac, he knew they were going to fuck! Now glaring at Ellis, he calls Clay to heel. "Hey Poster Boy, come sit with me!" he gestures towards the table at the back of the room. She smiles, watching as Sonny guides him away - luckily just in time.   
  
BRAVO One is here and he's standing close behind her, so close - a little too close for people that haven't been introduced yet. If he were to get any closer, she might find the answer to another rumor - about the size of his manhood.

She leans forward and unless she's imagining it, he's mirroring her moves. As her small well-manicured hand reaches for the last apple on the tray, his larger, much rougher one plucks it away from her grip.   
"Hey... that was mine!" she turns and frowns at him.   
"What...” he smiles, "this apple, is yours?" He still has his sunglasses on so she can't see the teasing glint in his eye, as he turns the apple around in hand. "No, sorry I don't see your name on it, I don't see any name on it, but what I do see...." he grins, "is me eating it!" He takes a bite and then takes his glasses off - looking at her. His eyes checking her out, make a mental note of her body measurements.   
She frowns, watching as he takes another huge bite from the apple flesh, the juice drips on his chin. But there's something about his attitude that annoys her - more than she thought he would. It's not his words - in a different context, they are filled with innuendo, but it's the air of arrogance about him. She knew what the gossips told her. Jason Hayes - egotistical, arrogant, and full of his own opinions. That’s why he has the reputation he does, and that, reputation, is exactly why she wanted him in her bed.   
"Well thanks, for nothing! You know I always thought it was ladies first?" she frowns watching as the canteen staff take the bowl away. "Excuse me, are there any more apples? Only it appears Master Chief Hayes has taken the last one!”   
He smiles, impressed that she knows his name. But then why wouldn't she? There weren't too many personnel on the base who didn't know who he was.   
"Sorry Ma'am but that was the last one."  
"Great!" she sighs in acceptance, watching as he stands with a huge smug smile on his face.   
"You know..." Jason sighs, "I'd say the requisitions team on this base isn't up to scratch. I mean if they can't even provide enough apples for lunch!" He grins, taking another bite from the apple, then walks away.   
  
Sonny's watching as they playfully torment each other. A wry smile on his face. _Girl, you are gonna have to up your game if you wanna play with him._   
Ray's at the opposite side of the table and he frowns, He really can't be doing with these types of games - they rarely end well. But that said, these things do have a way of keeping them entertained and how else were they gonna find their thrills on this deployment?  
  


~ # # ~

  
Jason's laid back in his bunk, thinking. He was trying to sleep but Sonny's continual snoring keeps him awake. _How the hell can Ray sleep through that? _He sighs. Looking over at his number two who is sound asleep in his bed. Switching his laptop on, he starts browsing the web - checking emails, he makes some quick replies to the kids. Bored, he finds himself hovering over the search bar. Seconds later he's typing her name - Ellis Baxter, military. He feels bad - naughty. Like some type of stalker.   
He checks on Ray and Sonny making sure they're both still asleep. He smiles. She does have a few pictures on social media. Nothing personal - mostly military charity posts. A few scenic holiday snaps. Nothing of consequence until he checks one of her friends' profiles. Then he grins. A blonde friend has a holiday picture of the two of them - drinking cocktails, her standing that way she does, legs slightly apart, feet firmly planted, hand on her hip -her ass sticking out.

Except in this one instead of wearing low-cut vest and combats – she’s wearing a bright,_ orange bikini! _If you would call it a bikini? It's more like three small triangles of fabric that barely cover what they should. He grins. There's something about the way she's smiling in the photo - naughty, a teasing glint in her eye. It arouses something inside him, he can feel it under the light covers of his bed.   
Saving the picture, unsure why he sends it to his phone. Perhaps he’s progressing to full-blown stalker-mode. For a few more moments, he stares at the image. Zooming in, he draws his finger across the screen, stroking the bare flesh on her stomach. _Oh, yeah! _He sighs, leaning deep into his pillow - there’s something about her and it's stirring a feeling in his loins. Right now, between his legs, letting him know that she's hitting the right buttons.

He slams the lid on the laptop, hoping it will subdue the feeling - it doesn't. That image of her, the orange bikini, it's burned in his brain. Turning over, he faces the wall, his hand sliding down to the front of his shorts. Running his fingers inside the cotton of his boxers, he closes his eyes. _Oh, god! _He gasps, biting his lip. Just the mere thought of her is making his cock hard and he wants to jerk off so bad. He can't -not with Ray and Sonny asleep only feet away.  
It takes all his willpower and self-control to not tug at his hardness and taking a deep breath, he holds back. He likes the way she makes him feel and he wants to hold onto it for as long as he can. She’s awakened an excitement inside, a feeling he hasn't felt in ages and he wants it to last, at least until he can give her his personal attention. For now, he must stay in control. And with that, he takes his hand from under the covers. Pulling his cap down over his face, he closes his eyes and he goes to sleep.

~ # # ~

Ellis lays in her bed. Luckily for her, with Bravo's logistics operator not being here she gets to keep the room to herself and now she's very much alone in her bed.   
She’s more determined in her search on the internet, but just as she expected, there's nothing on_ Jason Hayes_. Most of the specialist operators have little in the way of an online presence - at least until they retire, or they make headlines for some salacious reason.   
Looking up at the ceiling, she sighs, smiling as she notices the apple that she placed on the shelf next to the lamp. A reminder of earlier in the day when he was reaching over her taking that last apple from her grasp - brushing his dick against her butt. Thinking she wouldn't notice, he was subtle - but she felt it. So close that it sent a tingle to her womanly parts and an electric pleasure coursing through her veins. Right now, thinking about it – about him is turning her on.

Placing the laptop on the floor she leans back into the soft of her pillow. _Oh, God... s_he sighs as she pushes the white cotton sheet away from her body. Then laying still - flat on her back, naked, except for a small pair of lace panties, her hand smooths its way, slowly, over her breasts. Her nipple taut with excitement as she imagines the Master Chief's hand on it - the hand that took her apple. She moans softly, unable to stop thinking about him. Parting her lips, she gasps as her hand wanders further down her body. Her fingers finding their way inside the trim of her panties.   
_Oh yeah...._ she groans again, as she places the tip of her fingers softly onto the small zone of her body that gives her so much pleasure - gently rubbing in small circular motions, that send endless waves of pleasure through her thighs. Then closing her eyes, relaxing, her body, she opens to the sensation.

Her other hand against breast touching at the pertness of her nipple. Imagining in her head, it's him here - kissing and tugging at them. The more she thinks of him, the harder and more frantic the movements on her clit become. Rubbing at a pace that brings a wave of pleasure. Arching her back, lifting her hips, bringing herself to a peak. She smiles. In her head, her fingers his tongue, and she’s offering herself to him. She's so wet that she can feel it on her panties - she never took them off - something more pleasurable about the feeling of the material against her hand, like she's doing something she shouldn't be – naughty.   
It only takes a few moments of touching and she reaches a crescendo. Her orgasm washes over her body, she thrusts her fingers inside herself, rocking against her hand as she cums. _aahhhhh... _she gasps - panting. She wants to relax but she doesn't. Forcing herself to hold on that edge of pleasure. Seconds but they feel like minutes as she’s lost in a wave of sensation. Mouth open – taking deep breaths. It's like she's in pain but a pleasurable one - one she likes.   
Relaxing she sinks into the pillows, closing her eyes. She smiles. _TWO__ – ONE! _

Awarding Jason, a point because even though he doesn’t know it, it was he who had control of her.


	3. Personal request

_ **Next Day** _

Jason enters the stores. Ellis looks up, smiling as she watches him looking around. " Lucas, take a break. Go get something to eat."

"You sure ?" he frowns "I mean, you gonna be okay doin' this manifest yourself? "

"Yeah sure, I can handle it."

Jason smiles as Lucas walks past while he continues his slow wander around. She purses her lips, looking him over, getting a measure of the man he is. "Can I help because you know you shouldn't be here."

"Really..." he nods "okay. Well, I was told that you're _handling_ stuff for my team."

"Your team?"

"Bravo..." He smiles "but then I have a feeling you already know that?"

She nods, smiling. "So, what exactly did you want me to _handle for you_?" She flicks her tongue across her lips teasing him.

The way she says the words, her tongue on her lips, the image of her in the bikini flashing before his eyes. It makes his throat dry and he coughs. The stirring hardness in his pants is uncomfortable and he's desperate to adjust himself but loathed to let her see the effect she's having on him. "Oh,..." he coughs again "Bravo, they um, they have some requests and I'm told you can take care of them."

"Okay. Well yeah, never had any requests yet I haven't been able to _handle_. So, fire away." She keeps grinning, her eyes working their way him over.

She's so tempting and he grinds his teeth together. Pleased he kept his shades on because he has to close his eyes for a moment. Trying to concentrate, trying to keep control of the pulsing bulge now building below the canvas material of his combat pants. Taking a deep breath and regaining control of his emotions, he hands her a piece of paper "I made a list."

She looks at him, then back at the list, and coughs. Forging deep furrow lines on her forehead as she reads from it "Steak... sausages, beer, ... Tequila!" she pauses as she looks up "plates, napkins... you having a party?"

"Barbecue. You know, a welcome to deployment thing."

"Okay, well you know, you won't be able to have a barbecue on base without authorization."

"We'll see about that." he smiles

She shakes her head and continues to look at the things on the list. It's when she gets to the bottom she looks up, staring hard. Her frown much deeper set. "What's this?" she points to the words on the bottom of the handwritten note. "Orange bikini... what the hell..." Confused she waits for his explanation.

"Yeah that's a special request, of mine" he smiles "One of my guys, has to pay a forfeit, and, well he has to walk around the base in a bikini. A bet he lost."

"Right..." she frowns again, staring at him " Well, this is very specific, an _orange,_ bikini"

"Yeah, has to be orange. My favorite color."

"Okay..." she smiles " well, leave it with me and I'll see what I can do." she keeps looking at the list, with a wry smile.

"If you can't handle it, then don't worry. I didn't expect you could." He grins "I'll leave it with you. See what you come up with. Oh... and if we could have it by later this afternoon, that would be great."

"You know it's short notice..." she sighs "for all this. It can be done but I hope you appreciate; you're only giving me a few hours notice."

"Yeah..." He shrugs " I guess you're right. It is short notice. Just I heard that you were good and that it wouldn't be a problem. But perhaps you're not as good as the rumor I heard. I'll leave you to it" He smiles, grinning as he turns around, Closing the door as he leaves.

She lets out a long sigh. She smiles, looking at his list. She's not sure whether to be pissed or laugh. "Oh, don't worry Master Chief Hayes, I'm so much better than the damn rumors!"

~ # ~

_ **Early evening** _

Bravo are gathered together at the hidden area around the back of their accommodation.

"Hey...." Sonny calls out "Jace lookup, Little Miss No-Panties is on her way."

"What?" Jason smiles, as Ellis and Lucas come striding towards them. Arms laden with various cartons and bags. "Sonny what the hell - Miss- No-Panties?" he frowns

"Seriously? Oh, c'mon Jace, you gotta 'ave noticed about her panties, right? Geez, don't tell me you didn't?" He frowns "You know you need to pay more attention!"

"Evening gentlemen...." she smiles " Master Chief. Just delivering the things you requested" She looks around, everyone else looks awkwardly at the ground. They know Jason's been setting her up they can also fee the sexual tension between them.

Ray wishing they'd just get on and do it so it's done with. Sonny enjoying watching as they tease each other and Clay's not sure what the hell's going on.

She puts the bag with the meat on the table, while Lucas unloads the tequila and beers. Sonny smiles. He never thought in a million years she'd get all the things they requested, especially the Tequila. He's impressed.

She frowns as she places the rest of the items down on the table in front of him. "Oh, and these.... these are for you, from me." she smiles handing him a small bag of apples. He struggles to keep a straight face, nodding his head. "If that's all Master Chief we'll be off"

"Oh, no hold up. That's not everything I requested"

The others look around at each other, confused. Puzzled because it looks like they have everything they need. "Oh yeah..." she smiles "Sorry, I nearly forgot. Your, _personal, _request" She smiles going to the pocket of her khaki pants and pulling out a small -orange- bikini which she dangles in front of him. "I'll leave this here for you!"

Jason bites his lip and smiles. He just nods as he sips from the beer in his hand. His eyes widen watching as she turns, strutting away in the other direction. Smiling she can feel his eyes staring at her ass.

_ Three – One._

Jason laughs "Hey Sonny, so you really think she doesn't wear panties?"

Sonny laughs. Picking up the bikini. He frowns. "You know there ain't no way in hell this is gonna fit Clay?"

"Yeah, I know that..." Jason smiles "wasn't the reason for the request"

"What the hell! I'm not wearing that!" Clay frowns.

"Oh, yeah you are, you're the one lost the bet!" Sonny reminds him.

"Seriously ...c'mon guys, at least get one that fits!"

Jason takes it from Sonny's hand and looks at it. In his head, he's imagining her wearing it "Yeah he's right, I'll take it back as we need a bigger size."

"Thank you. Now, we doing something with this tequila or not?" Clay smiles as they pop the cork and open the beers.

"You know she's good!" Sonny smiles as he pours a shot of it into one of the plastic glass. Jason nodding in agreement. He smiles. The soft feel of the bikini fabric in his hand causing a stir in his groin. His hardness groans and straining against his undershorts. Something wants out. But he's not going to be giving in that easily, not just yet.

~ # ~

_ **The next day** _

He's back at the stores. She frowns looking up as he enters

"What can I do for you now, Master Chief?"

"I have another request that I need you to take care of." He smiles, closing the door. He turns the latch, locking the door and pulls the blind.

The stores and armory are two of the very few places on camp with doors that lock. "First, I need to check the size of this." He takes the bikini from his pocket and lays it on the counter "I need to know if this is gonna fit. It looked small, so I need to check the sizing."

She frowns looking at the label in the back of the panties "Well, you just look at the label, it's that simple."

"No, see I'm more of a visual guy. So, I was thinking if I could see it on, being modeled then I'd know for sure if it's goin' to fit."

"Oh right..." she grins teasingly "I get it, a more visual impression that's what you need?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'm so glad you understand. You can help with that."

"You know, I'm not really sure I can. I mean what's it got to do with me?"

"Well...." he coughs, stepping forward toward her "I kinda figured if _you_ were to put it on, then I can see if it's gonna be suitable for my needs."

"Oh..." she smiles again, looking him deep in the eyes "you did. Well, I don't think so."She hands it back to him.

"What you're saying it's a request you can't handle?"

"No, because it wasn't a request." she laughs. He nods, fondling the swimwear in his hands.

"You're right I didn't ask that very well. Okay, I'm requesting you try this on. Now you're not gonna disappoint me are you, Private Baxter, only I heard you pride yourself on being able to handle unusual requests. But I said I thought it was just a rumor." He lays the bikini on the desk in front of her and turns to leave but just as he puts his hand on the lock to open the door she calls him back.

"Alright, wait!" She lets out a long sigh. Against her better judgment, her ego takes over. She's not prepared to be outdone by him and she snatches it up from the desk "Fine! Give the damn thing here."

Smiling she opens the curtain that covers the doorway to the office space at the back of the stores. "Watch the door and make sure no one comes in!"

He smiles. Watching, there's a gap where the curtain doesn't fit and he catches a glimpse of her as she starts to undress. She knows full well he's looking and so slowly she peels off her clothes.

_Oh, god! _He groans. His dick hard, pressing longingly in his pants. Standing to full attention- all the wrong places -at just a quick glimpse of her bare ass.

While she's hidden from view he adjusts the position, moaning to himself. Gasping in delight, seeing her toned-naked butt bending over. He's so frustrated that he can't even hide this please when she returns, now wearing only the orange bikini.

"And?...." she frowns. Staring at him she stands, legs slightly apart, her hands on her hips.

"Wow!" He can't contain the excitement and she smiles watching his mouth open as he gasps. Happy that she's had exactly the effect she wanted making his cock press even harder for her release. He's so uncomfortable it aches. "Could you um... turnaround. Let me get the full effect."

"Sure... Why not!" She swallows nervously wondering what the hell she's doing. Then seeing the expression of wanting on his face she teases him even more, turning very slowly around. Her heart's pounding fast and though it feels awkward allowing him to gawk at her like this, there's also a part of her that gets a thrill from it. It creates a pulsing throb deep between her legs like excited electricity. This is a massive turn-on for both of them.

Sure, she admits it's out of control. A huge risk. But nonetheless, it's also made the day a helluva lot more exciting.

He doesn't move the heavy throbbing waves in his pants renders him unable to speak as he watches her. Afraid he's giving away how he feels or worse that he might explode right in front of her. "Sorry, that's no good, I mean, it won't be big enough for Clay. Though..." he frowns, now he knows he's pushing his luck he's not sure she'll go this far but hell he's going to try. He stands still thinking "Maybe on second thoughts, it'll do. You can take it off and I'll take it with me."

She smiles and turns back to the office. He gently takes hold of her elbow, "Oh no....when I said take it off. I meant, take it off here!"

.

"Here? Now?" She looks at him and frowns. She bites her lip taking a moment to think. Knowing she really shouldn't do this. Her heart beating off the scale with nervous excitement. This is so out of comfort zone, having him in control, dominating her but at the same time, it's such a huge turn on.

"So, take it off!" His demand is more like an order and she smiles.

She's played these games before, though usually in more private surroundings, not in the open like this. That's part of what's so exciting and right now he's certainly living up to his reputation. She's certainly no prude when it comes to her body and being naked but then normally it's her choice and her in control of the situation. This is all about him in control, him getting - her- to do what- he wants.

She sighs loudly "No, I don't think so, not today." She pulls her arm from his grip, staring him in the eyes. The signals he's giving off, it feels like they're about to kiss - and then fuck. Does she want that? Hell, yeah she does. _So maybe take the damn bikini off?_

Seeing her hesitation, he makes one more play, sliding his hands down her waist-on to her hip- tugging at the string bow - tied at the side- undoing it. She lets him, smiling. Her eyes focused on his face as he unties one side and then, slowly, the other. She parts her legs allowing the small garment to fall to the floor. _Oh! S_he gasps breathless, this is such a massive turn on. Then he strokes his hand against the curve of her ass. He smiles, teasing her so much, watching as he orders her to take the rest off.

Her chest heaves with deep, apprehensive, breaths. Staring at him as she unties the halter top. The material falls away from her body and her breasts spill out she places the fabric in his outstretched hand. Taking another deep breath, her heart feels like it might actually explode. She's wet between her legs thinking about him and what they're about to do.

_What the hell are you doin' Ellis_? She questions herself. Thinking about how she must look standing there naked. Vulnerable. Him staring at her body. This is so wrong, on so many levels. They would both be in so much trouble if they got found out but she can't help but be turned on by it.

He doesn't move or say anything but the look on his face, as his eyes wander over her curves, says exactly what he's thinking. She feels a little uncomfortable. Her nude, him fully dressed in his combat gear, but for all that, she's loving it. Her giving him total control.

She knows how this works. Being submissive. Waiting dutifully for his next instruction. When she's played this before there have always been consequences to not waiting. Her ass has been made to sting so many times for stepping out of line. Jason doesn't look the type for that level of dominance but she knows he's enjoying this. It's a game and she smiles, willing him to say something, make her do something, gives her another instruction.

Now he has her like this he's not sure what to do and his hand gently reaches forward, his finger and thumb touching against her hardened nipple. She gasps as he plays with it, tugging as his hand gropes firmly at her breast. He smiles, staring at her, and then stepping closer he brushes his lips gently against her neck.

_ Oh, fuck! -_ She closes her eyes- this is intense. She wants to reach out and pull him to her, but she doesn't, instead, she waits patiently letting him make the moves. She smiles, again letting him know it's okay, that this is consensual.

It's so hard to resist her but he's determined he's not going to give in. He knows he wants her begging and needy the way she made him feel when he saw those pictures online. He smiles. Dropping his lips down onto her nipple sucking and biting at it. _Oh god!_ \- He closes his eyes. He thinks he's going to explode. He wants to just grab her - and fuck. But staying in control he doesn't give in to either of their wants.

As he steps forward she steps back against the wall. Looking her over he takes a hold of her hand placing it against her breast.

She smiles- He wants to watch - as she gropes her own softness. Leaning against the wall she teases him. Pleasuring herself while he watches. It's been a while since she's been as turned on - as she is right now and she can't wait for him to give in and satisfy her.

Begging him she breathlessly calls his name. "Please.." she pleads, smiling. "tell me what do you want me to do?"

He grins - her breasts are pert- and he wants to touch them so much - he can't. He can't because he never wants this feeling of longing to end. She's turning him on so much but he doesn't want to give in, not yet. He smiles. Keeping composure. "I have another request!" he whispers in her ear.

"Really..." she smiles, stuttering her words; longing for him to touch her " what do you want? Anything - just ask me." She smiles, biting her lip. The anticipation of them fucking is too much - it's all she wants now - for him to take her. Here. Now.

The vibe of electricity she can feel between them means she wants to wrap her legs around him - fuck her against this wall - but he's teasing her and she's afraid he's not going to give in. She can see how much pleasure her want is giving him and now she needs to encourage him, more. Pulling desperately at his belt -trying to undo his pants - she wants to unleash the hardness she can feel as she strokes her hand against it.

He closes his eyes and for a moment he thinks about letting her. About giving them both some relief to their frustration but then he places his hand on hers and stops her. "No! Not here."

"What?" she frowns not only is this frustrating - but confusing.

He brushes his lips against her ear, leaning close, his hand on her breast, softly kneading her flesh. "I need.... a single bunk!" he whispers.

"What the hell?!" she frowns stroking her hand down his arm. This wasn't what she was expecting "Sorry, that's your request? Right now, that's the only thing you want is a change or bunk? Are you fuckin' serious?..." She frowns again, looking at him "My God, you are!" she laughs "We're standing here like this..." she licks her lip teasing him, her hand on his cheek stroking his face "and your only request is for a single bunk?"

"Oh, no what you're begging for...." he grins "is why I want a single bunk. I wanna give you what you this, properly - no interruptions"

She frowns, the serious look on his face "So we're not gonna fuck - here, now? You're just gonna walk away?" She shifts nervously, feeling uncomfortable as the tension starts to fizzle "I can't...." she sighs "I mean, do you know how hard - a single bunk- is to get?"

She pushes him away, sighing. Her moment of submission is over. The expression on her face shows him the level of her disappointment.

"Yeah I do but I can't do this deployment sharing -Sonny's snoring for one..." he laughs "I need my own space." Tilting his head, he smiles as he continues to gently finger her nipple, stroking his hand lightly over her breast, brushing his lips against hers - not kissing - but still sending a shiver of pleasure through her body.

"You're such a fuckin tease!" She smiles letting out a heavy excited sigh "Okay... I'll get you to want but it may take a little time. I hope you can wait that long?" She smiles pushing him back she then disappears behind the curtain.

_ Fuck!! - _He gasps. Now she's the one who's taken control and he wonders if he just made a big mistake. His dick hard - aching unsatisfied.

He's going to need to find somewhere to jerk this off. Taking a deep breath he leaves her bikini on the counter and exits the stores.

She stands in the office motionless - still naked- listening as the door closes. a_ahhhhh fuck!!!. Godammit! -_ Her legs buckle, weak after all the excitement. Her breath slows and she smiles "You fuckin' asshole!" she laughs.

She's annoyed that she didn't get what she wanted but actually now she thinks about it - that was much more fun - intense. She's frustrated and she wants him more now. He's turned her on - crazily. She can't even contemplate touching herself - her body throbs- wanting him. She sighs.

Looking around the stores she's embarrassed -naked - thoughts of what they just did consuming her mind. Smiling she picks up her clothes and starts to dress.

~ # ~

Stood around the corner, at the back of the stores Jason's hidden from view. He has to unzip his pants and loosen his throbbing hardness. Placing his hand on the aching from inside his shorts, he touches himself. He's going to have to find somewhere - private -she turned him on that much that there is no way he's going to concentrate on anything until he relieves all of this tension she stirred inside him.


	4. I have another request

The next day he’s back at the stores and she frowns looking up as he enters the doorway.

"You again! What can I do for you now, Master Chief?"

"Oh, I think you know what I’m here for. I have another request I need taking care of." He smiles, closing the door. Then he pushes the latch across and pulls down the sun blind.

The stores and the armoury are two of the very few places on camp with doors that lock.

"First though, I need to check the size of this." He takes the orange bikini from his pocket and lays it on the counter "I need to know if this is gonna fit, my guy. You know, it looked a bit small, so I need to check the sizing."

She frowns looking at the label in the back of the panties and reads it to him. "Well, you just look at the label, it’s that simple."

"No! No see, I'm more of a visual guy. I like to judge by eye. So, I was thinking if I could see it on, being modeled then I’d know for sure if it’s going to fit.”

“Oh right…" she smiles. She grinning teasingly "I get it, a more visual impression that's what you need…"

"Yeah that's right. I'm glad you understand. So, can you help?”

"You know, I'm not really sure I can. I mean what's it got to do with me?"

"Well...." he coughs and steps forward towards her "I kinda figured if _you_ were to put it on, then I can see if it's gonna be suitable for my needs."

"Oh…” she smiles again, looking him deep in the eyes "you did, did you? Well I don't think so."She hands it back to him he stands looking at it.

Fondling the fabric in his hands "Okay, so then I found a request you can't handle, that’s cool."

“No.. no that’s not a request” she laughs

He nods, the swimwear still in his hands. "You’re right I didn’t ask that very well. Okay, I’m requesting that you try this on. You’re not gonna disappoint me now are you Private Baxter only I heard you pride yourself on being able to handle unusual requests. You know I said I thought that was just a rumor" He lays the bikini on the desk in front of her and turns to leave.

Just as he puts his hand on the lock to open the door she calls him back. "Alright, wait!" She lets out a long sigh. This is against her better judgement, but her ego takes over. She’s not prepared to be out done by him and she snatches it up from the desk"Fine! Give me the damn thing here."

She shakes her head, opening the curtain to the office space at the back of the stores she goes there to put it on. “Watch the damn door and make sure no one comes in!”

“Okay but only if you're sure?" he smiles.

There’s a small gap in the curtain where I doesn’t cover the entrance properly and he can see her as she undresses. Watching as she slowly peels off her clothes.

_Oh, god…_. he groans the hard of his cock now pressing wantonly in his pants. He’s standing to attention in all the wrong places at just the glimpse of her bare ass.

While she's still hidden from view he adjusts the position of his swollen appendage and groans to himself. _Fuck…. _He sighs the delight of seeing her naked ass bent over makes him grimaces in frustration.

He can’t hide his pleasure as she returns wearing only the small orange bikini.

"And?....” she frowns staring at him. Legs apart slightly, hands on hip

“Wow!” he can’t contain it now. She smiles as he gasps. She’s had the effect she wanted, and his cock is pressing hard in his pants so uncomfortable that it hurts “Could you um… turnaround. Let me get the full effect”

“Sure.. why not?” She swallows nervously wondering what the hell she’s actually doing. But she’s kind of enjoying the tease.

Slowly she turns around. Her heart pounding so fast and she feels slightly uncomfortable allowing him to gawk at her like this but also like him, there’s a pulsing throb deep between her leg's.

Excited, the whole thing is like electricity. Doing this in broad daylight, it's turning her on. Sending a message to her brain telling her this is a _big_ big turn on.

Sure, it's out of control. It's risky. But nonetheless she admits it's also exciting.

He doesn't move, the heavy pulse from the throbbing in his pants renders him unable to speak while he watches her. Afraid he might give away what how he's feeling, or worse he might explode right in front of her.

"No, I’m sorry but that's not any good. I mean, it won't be big enough for Clay. Though..." he frowns, now he's trying his luck he’s not sure she’ll go this far but he’s sure as hell going to try “hmmm… just let me think." He stands still with a look that pretends like he’s thinking when really all his doing is looking at her. "Maybe on second thoughts, it'll do. You can take it off and I'll take it with me."

She heads back towards the curtained area

“Oh no! No...." he gently touches her arm, holding her where she is "when I said take it off... " he looks at her smiling, caressing her arm his hand on her shoulder "I meant take it off, here."

“Here? Like right here, now?...” She looks at him and frowns. He’s pushing his luck and he knows it. She bites her lip thinking for a moment. She really shouldn’t do this and her heart nearly beats out of her chest with nervous excitement.

She’s out of her comfort zone, having him in control, him dominating her. But at the same time, it’s such a big turn on. She bites at her lip wondering if he’s actually serious.If he's game enough to take this to its full conclusion.

“Take it off!” It’s now almost like an order, she smiles she’s played these games before, though usually with more privacy, not out in the open like this but that’s now part of the thrill.

She's certainly no prude when it comes to her body and being naked. But normally when she is, it’s her choice, her in control of the situation. This, this is all about him having control him getting her to do what he wants.

She sighs loudly “No… no I don't think so, not today!" she pulls her arm from his grip, staring him in the eyes while she tries to read exactly what it is he wants. The signals he's giving off it feels like they're about to kiss and then fuck. Does she want that? Hell, yeah she does. So maybe she should take the damn bikini off.

Seeing her hesitation, he makes one more play, sliding his hands down her waist on to her hip. He then tugs a the string bow tied at the side, undoing it.

She lets him and she smiles watching his eyes as he focuses on her. First he undoes one side, then slowly the other and she parts her legs allowing the material to fall to the floor. _Oh…._ she gasps breathless, this is such a turn on.

He then strokes his hand down over the curve of her ass and he smiles.He’s teasing her so bad, watching as he orders her to take the top off.

Her chest heaves with her deep apprehensive breaths. She stares at him while undoing the back of the halter top. The material falls from her body and her breasts spill out, then she hands the top to his outstretched hand.She takes another deep breath, feeling like her heart might actually burst out of her chest. She’s wet between the leg’s thinking about him. _What the hell are you doin’ Ellis_?

She questions herself. Thinking about how she must look standing there naked, completely undressed, and vulnerable. Him staring at her body. This is so wrong, on so many levels. They would both be in so much trouble for this, but at the same time it’s a huge, huge, turn on.

He doesn’t move or say anything but the look on his face as his eyes wander over her curves says exactly what he’s thinking.

She feels a little uncomfortable. Her naked, him fully dressed in his combat gear, but for all that, she’s loving it. Her allowing him to be totally in control. She knows how this works. Being the submissive. She knows she has to dutifully await his next instruction.

When she’s played this before there’s always been consequences to not waiting. Her ass has had many a severe beating for stepping out of line. She’s not sure Jason’s up for that level but she’s knows he’s enjoying it. It’s a game and she smiles, willing him to say something, make her do something. Give her his next instruction.

His hand gently reaches forward his finger and thumb touching her hardened nipple. She gasps as he twists it, tugging at it, before his hand gropes at her breast. He smiles. Staring at her stepping closer his lips brushing gently against her neck.

_Oh fuck…_ she closes her eyes this is intense, and she wants to reach out and pull him to her. But she doesn’t, instead she waits patiently letting him make the moves. She knows for him it’s about being in control, that’s what he likes. She smiles again letting him know it’s okay, this is consensual.

He can’t resist her, but he’s determined he’s not going to give into her. He wants her begging and needy the way she made him feel when he saw those pictures of her.

He smiles his mouth dropping down to her nipple sucking hard against it, biting. _Oh god!.._ He closes his eyes. He thinks he might explode. He wants desperately to grab her and fuck her. But still he keeps control, still not giving in to either of their wants.

As he steps forward she steps back towards the wall. He’s looking her over. Then taking her hand in his he places it against her own breast.

She smiles. He wants to watch as she gropes at her own softness. So, leaning back against the wall she teases him with it.

She’s never been so turned on as she is right now. She can’t wait for him to give into her, that’s what she’s begging for “Jason…” she breathlessly calls his name. Her breathing is off the scale. “Please..” she begs smiling. “what do you want me to do?”

Her breasts are pert, and he wants to touch them so much, but he can't because he never wants this feeling of longing to end. She is turning him on so much now, but her doesn't want to give in, not yet.

He smiles and this is where the control comes in " I have another request!"

"Really…" she can't get her words out; she's longing for him to touch her again “What do you want? Anything just ask me…” She smiles, biting her lip.

The anticipation of him fucking her, it’s too much to bear now, because that's what she wants, she wants him to take her right now.

The vibe of electricity she can feel between them means she wants to let loose, wrap her legs around him and have him fuck her, right now against this wall. But she can tell he’s teasing her. And she’s afraid he’s not going to give into her. She can she how much pleasure her want is giving him.

Now she needs to encourage him. And she pulls at his belt buckle undoing his pants. She wants to unleash the hardness she can feel.

He closes his eyes and for a moment he thinks about letting her. About letting her relieve some of his frustration. But then he places his hand on hers and stops he. “No! No that’s not what I want…”

"What?..." she frowns this is not only frustrating but confusing.

He puts his lips close to her ear, leaning close, his hand back on her breast, softly kneading her flesh “I need a single bunk…” he whispers.

"What the hell…" she frowns as she runs her hands down his arms "What did you say?” This wasn't what she was expecting "Sorry, that’s your request? Right now, that’s the only thing you want. Are you fucking serious”? She frowns again, looking at him "Oh my god, you are!" she laughs "We're standing here like this..." she licks her lip teasing him, her hand on his cheek stroking his face “and your only request is for a single bunk?”

He smiles “You want what you’re begging for? Then I want a single bunk. I wanna give you _this,_ properly. No interruptions” he smiles.

She frowns, the serious look on his face "So we’re not gonna do it? Seriously .. you’re gonna walk away?” She shifts nervously, now feeling uncomfortable the moment starting to fizzle "I can’t….” she sighs “do you know how hard a single bunk is to come by?"

She pushes him away. Sighing her moment of submission is over. The expression on her face shows him her dissatisfaction.

"Yeah… yeah I do. But I can't do this deployment with Sonny's snoring…” he laughs “I need my own space!"

He tilts his head as he gently touches her nipple again, stroking his hand lightly over her breast, brushing his lips against hers. Not kissing her but still sending a shiver of pleasure through her, and him.

“You’re a fuckin tease…” She smiles letting out a heavy excited sigh "But I’ll get you want. Might take a little time though. I hope you can wait that long?”

She smiles pushing him away as she disappears back behind the curtain.

_Fuck!!.._ he gasps now she’s the one taken back control and hes wondering if he made a big mistake. His cock is aching with how hard it is and he’s going to need somewhere to jerk off. He takes a deep breath.

Leaving the orange bikini on the counter he exits the stores.

She stands in the office motionless, still naked as she hears the door close.

_Aahhhhh fuck…. Oh,god!...._ Her legs buckle with weak excitement.

Her breath is quickened, and she smiles “You fuckin’ asshole …” she laughs but she’s annoyed that she didn’t get what she wanted but actually that was much more intense and as frustrated as he's left her she wants him so much more now.

He's turned her on something crazy and if she was to touch herself she'd probably cum right here on the spot. The throbs of wanting him and the frustration is tormenting her.

She sighs, looking around at the storeroom then embarrassment at the thought of her nakedness floods in to take over from the feelings of pleasure and she picks up her clothes to put them on.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He’s now stood around the corner at the back of the storeroom.

He needs to be out of the sight of anyone because he has to undo his pants and loosens the hardness, the aching from inside his combats. He places his hand touching himself he’s going to have to find somewhere private because there is now way he can concentrate on anything until he relieves this tension

She’s turned him on that much he thinks he might burst. He’s going to have to relieve it and soon.


	5. Tequila

It’s late evening and the desert sun is going down fast behind the horizon. Ellis is sat on the steps outside her bunk making the most of the peace and quiet.   
  
As she looks up she smiles, watching. “Clay…”

He’s drunkenly staggering his way across the open sand track that leads to the sleeping quarters where Bravo are housed for their deployment.

"Hey Clay! You okay there?" she frowns, watching him weave and wander.

He squints, unable to make out the face behind the voice calling his name. The combination of low setting sun in his eyes and a tequila induced brain fog, impairing his judgement. “Hey…” he staggers towards the sound of the female voice.

“What are you doing?” she frowns exchanging her smile with his bold and beautiful one. It’s the first thing that caught her attention about him, that day in the canteen. His cheeky boyish grin. 

"Oh, oh I...I… had-d to… to change my sh- shirt" he points to the white, tightly, stretched material struggling to contain his muscle laden torso "R-Rib sauce" he smiles as the words drunkenly fall from his mouth.

She grins trying not to laugh loud. Looking him up and down she regretfully sighs. His bronzed toned, strong arms, the tight thigh muscles filling his beige canvas shorts. That white stretch cotton lycra across his well-proportioned chest. She sighs, questioning her judgement about removing him from her _must do_ list

The only slight, possible disappointment in this young Adonis is the well-hidden part she's checking out now. That's not quite filling his shorts in the way she imagined, but she'll put that down to the potent amount of tequila he's consumed.

Taking another admiring look at his thick toned arms, chest muscles and the potential of what's lurking under those shorts, she decides just for now that she'll add him back as a _has potential._

She continues to grin watching him swaying sideways. His eyes glazed pools of over consumed beer, topped up with strong tequila  
"You know you need to be careful, all that alcohol and the desert heat tends to be a lethal combination”

"Oh, but..but we're having a partttyy! Shhh! Shh!....Secret!" he grins.  
  
She raises her eyebrows wondering exactly how much he’s had. He’s so drunk. She smiles again trying so hard not to laugh "Yeah, I did hear something about that."

"Hey, why don't you come?" he tilts his head trying to focus as he studies her. Looking longingly golden tanned legs stretched out in front of her from the bottom of the cut off denim shorts she's squeezed into.

Something in his drunken blur is sending broken signals to his groin, reminding him again that it's been a while since he'd exercised that part of his anatomy.

"Oh, no, I don't think so. You go back and enjoy it."

"No!" he pulls a cute face, pleading.

Now she seriously thinks for a moment of just dragging him into her bunk behind, straddling her legs over his waist and taking full advantage of that drunken physique.

"Come on! Please…. I want you to _come_!"

_Oh god!_ she sighs, the way he says _I want you to come_. It stokes a fire and she bites her lip, reminding herself just how drunk he is. It would be too much hard work getting him up and hard and so she shakes the thoughts from her head. It’s not like he’d be able to satisfy her. Even if it does seem a good idea.

"Come, please. I want you to."

She looks away trying not to laugh at the slurred innuendo "Alright. Alright I'll come. But just give me a minute" She disappears up the steps to her bunk and then returns, closing the door behind her.

Bottle in hand. She links her arm around his and they head back to the hidden spot at the back of the camp where Bravo have set up their ‘not so’ secret barbecue.

o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey! Look who I found…Tequila girl!" Clay smiles as he wraps his strong body behind her and walking her forward.

She can feel the tautness of his chest against her back. It doesn't just stop there, as he pushes his firm body behind her, moving her forward towards the group, she can feel the large hardness growing in his shorts.

Now she gives herself a telling off for not taking advantage of all that potential earlier. In normal circumstances she would be further encouraging this. But right now, she doesn't and in fact totally dismisses the idea. Stopping him from touching her more, because standing there in front of her, is the real prize she wants. Bravo One

"You know, I think …someone's had a little too much tequila" she laughs, awkwardly untangling herself from Clay's grip.  
  
Jason doesn't move he stares at her, trying to keep himself under control, desperate to not give his feelings away to the group. It’s hard because he just can’t keep his eyes off her. His eyes can't help looking at those tight, seriously tight, blue cut-off jean shorts and that white, almost sheer fabric, linen shirt. She has it tied at the waist showing off her tanned taut stomach to its best effect.  
  
But it's not the sight her bare flesh that attracts his attention, no it's the orange triangles of material and string that he can see though the sheerness of the shirt fabric that taunt him, arousing a further stirring deep under the cover of his shorts.  
  
The aroused feeling that he now wishes he'd had taken care of early but didn't. She’s making his body pay for that because its groaning harder now than it has in all the time he's been here.  
  
Those small hints of orange beneath her shirt, tied together trying to contain her breasts, straining to not let them spill out are the source of his pleasurable pain. He smiles to himself wondering if she did this deliberately.

Punishment for walking away in the storeroom. Because she knows the effect this public taunting and teasing will have on him.  
  
How he wants to reach out and touch that fabric. Run his hand over the bronzed flesh just below, imagining his fingers popping the metal button on those shorts, pushing his hand inside and finding out if the rumors of her wearing no panties, are true or not. Was there stretch lace beneath those shorts containing everything he wanted to experience about her or was it true that she just didn't bother to cover any part of her smooth skin.

  
Now he wonders how he will make it through the rest of the long evening with this heavy feeling pushing against his shorts.  
  
He just thanks god that he chose loose fitting boardie’s for the evening, otherwise the effect that orange fabric, might have been exposed to the whole world.

No, for now he was going to have to hide himself, hide the annoyance and if he's honest, jealousy he's feeling. Watching as Clay now parades her to the team.

It's Clay's muscle laden arms she clings to. His taut toned torso covered with white fabric, that she's casually brushing against at this moment.

This is definitely payback. Payback, for walking away, leaving her wet with frustration earlier in the storeroom.  
  
He berates himself for what now seems a mistake. He should have just fucked her there and then like he wanted. He struggled so much not to give in even though eh knew she wanted it.

It would have given in to both their wants, and then maybe he wouldn't be sitting here, hard and frustrated watching her fawn over the youngest of his team.

Jason's not the only one to notice the subtle tease of the orange bikini top and Sonny give a wry smile  
_Jason must have noticed that? _But his smile drops to a frown when he sees the look on Jason's face. It's blank, emotionless. If it were showing any sign of emotion then it's one of annoyance.  
  
He turns back to face the group and sees what's causing that look in his team leader. It's Clay!

Clay, the one touching her, gently in his drunken state, brushing against her at every opportunity.

And it's her milking it, playing with his Clay's ego by touching and stroking those muscle-bound arms he's so proud of.

Sonny sighs. He necks back the last of his beer.

_This can't damn well happen! She fucks Poster Boy it's game over! No, he needs this more than Clay!_

Sonny's experienced enough to know when Jason's up for something, and he knows he's been a dog searching for his bone since he laid eyes on her when they stepped off that plane.  
  
Oh, this was a guaranteed fuck that was going to happen and now ... now he can't even imagine the consequences, not to mention the rift it will cause, if Clay steals Jason's prize from under his nose.

_No, this can't happen! It won't happen! I'll make sure of it!  
  
_No good can come from it for BRAVO and so Clay has to be stopped. Though he actually suspect it's her toying and teasing with him for Jason's benefit.

But for now, Sonny must act, for Clay's good, Jason's good and the good of his team. He has to dampen his buddy's ardour and put out any flames, before he tries to move in and run this shake down to its conclusion.

"Hey, wait what the hell you got there Clay?" He frowns at the bottle Clay's gripping in his sweaty hand.

" Tequila!!" He holds up the bottle Ellis brought with them from her bunk. Wafting it around in the air like some prize for everyone to see

His drink fueled testosterone level is already raised to a dangerously high level and more alcohol is not going to help. "Woah! Woah, whoa!" Sonny unhands it from him "Hold there Ken doll”

He takes the bottle from the drunken youngster and as he takes a look at the label he lets out a long whistle. "Whhhhhhee! ....Jeez! This is one expensive bottle of Mezcal!”

He frowns at Ellis "Give that here baby seal! That’s too much grown up for you to handle!" Sonny turns the bottle around his hand caressing the lines of the glass before popping the corked lid and taking a long deep enjoyable sniff of the contents. He remembers with a smile back to a time once in Mexico where he experienced the pleasure of this bad boy. Just trying it cost him the last of the cash from his pocket.

Ellis grins she frowns at her, pushing Clay away so that he’s facing her eye to eye "How the hell’d you get this authorised-on deployment?"

She coughs and shrugs, then smiles again. Impressed by Sonny's knowledge of top shelf liquor and its rarity in the sandcastle they temporarily live

  
"One of the um... officers on the Brits camp, .... " she nods towards the northwest corner of the base, British military is administered from "he has a bit of a penchant for it so, ....."   
She lets out a long sigh, knowing that letting out one of her secrets to impress him is stupid but she has his attention, she can't help but continue to brag "so he um… authorises the manifest for me. But you know, these logistics guys, well, they're just not careful, and every now and again one or two get ...broken. Would be a shame to waste damaged goods don't you think?"

She runs her tongue on her teeth almost trying to tease Sonny and she smiles, as broad beam breaks out on Sonny's face. He puts his arm around her and kisses her cheek "You know I like her Jason… can we keep her?"

Jason shrugs acting unimpressed as he continues to sip his beer.   
Sat by himself, away from the others in quiet contemplation. Still chewing over how he feels about Clay touching her toned skin and her stroking his muscles or maybe it because she's stroking his ego?!

_He can't handle her! _ or that's what Jason's hopes._ But, what if he can? What if they do it and what if he missed his chance. What if he blew it in the storeroom_ _and she now puts out for Clay!_   
Even worse, what if she likes it?

He sups back the last of the beer and takes another from the cool box. He needs something to put out the flames between his legs as he looks at that tempting orange bow he can see at the back of her shirt. The orange knot that she undid for him earlier.   
  
She let him see what was beneath that shirt. Not too much, not too big, exactly right. Her nipple so taut he could have put his mouth to it right there in that storeroom and smooth her body was so smooth all over. Yeah she took care of her body.

_No tan lines!_ He frowns as he studies her long-toned legs. _Why did she have no tan lines?_

That question is now in his head._ How in this sun, in the desert all day, could there be no tan lines on any part of her body?  
_  
_Oh god!_ He didn't want to imagine how she achieved that. The thought of it was going to send him over the edge. He quickly chugs his beer drowning those fully stoked flames. He looks at the beer in the cooler but it’s going to take a lot more beer than that to put out this fire.

"Hey…" Mandy sits down with a thud and a sigh beside him "You got one of those for me? I sure as hell need it!"

Jason comes back to the world leaving the thoughts of her tan lines in his pants. "Hey! So, what's up? What's going on?"

She lets out a long sigh, stretching herself forward "Oh, nothing… well actually, I'm a little pissed off. Do you know I've just had to move my things, plumbing in my bunk playing up or so they say. So, I've had to move while they fix it. I mean it's one small shower room and a toilet how hard can it be to fix?"   
She sighs sipping from the beer Jason hands her "And now it means… I gotta share with little Miss No Panties over there!"

Jason frowns. He wonders why everyone keeps calling her that. She had panties, he saw them, small black lacy ones. She took them off just before she modeled the orange bikini for him in the stores. “How come you gotta share with Ellis?"

"Because her unit is the only other space available for a female at the moment. But hopefully they'll move me back when its fixed. Good thing I'm not there much." she coughs "I hear it's like a revolving door in her bunk. I just hope she doesn't bring anyone back while I'm there!"

"I think it's all rumor. I mean, her reputation. Well from what Sonny said it exaggerated, she’s choosy"

She looks over and points to Clay "Yeah well looks like she's about to get _choosy _ with one of your team!" she smiles "Might be time to step in before he does something he regrets"

"Oh jeez!..." Jason looks up and calls out "Sonny…keep an eye on Clay!"

He points and Sonny turns around. Finding Clay just about to bury himself in her shirt. The drink he's consumed and then the Mezcal shot Sonny, reluctantly, let him have after Clay persuaded him he could handle it. He obviously can’t and holding him back Ellis call for help

"Hey um.... I think it might be time for an intervention here!"

"Oh hell! Yeah, sorry about that!" Sonny shakes his head regretful of that mezcal now "Clay…Clay c’mon buddy! Let's get you back to your bunk. You need to sleep this off"

"Sonny…” Clay staggers “I'm gonna throw up!"

Ellis frowns and steps away. Last thing she wants is him throwing up on her. Sonny sighs "Yeah, okay little man! Trent!..." he calls help over "give me a hand!"

"Oh Jeez! Clay, how the hell much of that have you had to drink? Come on, let's get you some water and some sleep"

"Sun, Tequila, too much for someone so young and inexperienced" she laughs, as Sonny apologises.

Sonny relaxes now. Calling him out on his inability to handle his drink, Sonny knows she won't be crossing that line with him. At least not tonight. It was just her ploy to get Jason's attention

It put Ellis back in control and it worked. Now she was going to leave, hopefully with Jason wanting more.

She gave him a point yesterday for his win in the storeroom, but this was another win for her.

_Four – Two._

As they carry Clay between them and she turns to leave, she's now faced with Mandy and Jason talking. The laughing and closeness she watches for a moment and it's her turn for that pang of jealous annoyance. Jason looks up as they meet eye to eye, and he sees it.

She strides over "Sorry to interrupt but I'm now headed back. Early start and all that. Just to say ..." she pauses licking her lips "...now we're sharing, maybe we need some ground rules"  
  
Jason frowns as does Mandy who frowns "Ground rules, for what?"

"You know..." her eyes divert to Jason. He diverts his attention away unable to look at her directly "if you bring anyone back"

Jason tries not to smile, because he can't imagine Mandy bringing anyone back. "Excuse me a minute" He gets up and walks away. As he does he brushes close to her, touching her breast with his arm, it tests his own limits of endurance.  
Was it on purpose or unintentional she doesn't know but she does know it sends a wave of heightened sensation through her body.

She steadies herself and continues "Yeah if you have someone back, well, just leave a towel outside the door. I mean then I'll know, vice versa, I’ll do the same."

Mandy’s incredulous "I _won't _be bringing anyone back!"  
She lets out a heavy sigh " Look I'm sharing with you because there is no choice, until they fix the plumbing but once that's done, then I'm gone! Let's hope for both of us it doesn't take too long"

  
She bites her lips and smiles as Mandy walks away. "Oh, I think we're gonna be sharing for quite a while yet!"

o-o-o-o-o-o

Mandy's finally asleep and Ellis leans back, sinking her head into the pillow on her bunk.

She can't stop thinking about the evening as she lays there naked holding her orange bikini top. She closes her eyes and lays it against the skin on her breast now gently sliding the fabric over her erect nipple. The sensation sends waves down her body and she slides her hand gently down her stomach pulling the cotton sheet over, giving her the only privacy, she has from Mandy.

Her fingertips resting against her pert clit as she gently parts her soft wet woman lips and starts to rub the little hooded nub in slow and gentle circular motion. Waves of pleasure start to pulse through her body as the excitement build. She’s careful to keep the pace steady. She doesn't want to rush the feeling and now she lets Jason into her head allowing him to do whatever he wants.

She increases the rubbing sensation, rubbing harder and faster now till it starts to reach its peak and she wants to cry out but has to make do with a low moan as she tries to contain any sounds from her mouth so as not to wake her new roommate.   
  
As her imagination lets Jason's tongue flick on that hardened bud she starts to pant finding it desperately impossible to be silent, as her imagined lover brings her to crashing waves of orgasm. Her hips reach forward allowing her fingers inside, his imagined tongue now eating her pleasure and her pushing him deeper inside.  
She breathes out deeply as she starts to let the sensation go while silently mouthing “_Aahhhhh!_" Moaning, groaning she closes her eyes. The feeling subsides. She smiles

_Four – Three._

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Jason's in his bunk looking at her picture on his phone, his hand laying on the outside of his cotton shorts. He's so tempted to put his hand inside as he runs his thumb over he image he has stored. Just as he finally give into his feelings, lifting the elastic waist band of his underwear, the door opens, and he’s disturbed. Shit!

Sonny crashes down on to his bottom "Jace you awake? Jace..”

“Yeah Sonny, what?”

“Would you believe Spenser threw up! Trent's still with him."

Jason shuts his eyes, letting out a long-frustrated sigh. His moment is gone. "He'll be fine tomorrow. Now, just shut the hell up and get some sleep!"


	6. My relaxation technique

Mandy's furiously packing her toiletries back into her wash bag. Sharing with Ellis was not what she signed up for on this deployment and she takes a deep breath as she turns to look at her still sleeping room mate.  
She's laid out on her bed completely naked, apart from the cotton sheet, but that only covers parts of her legs and lower waist.   
  
Mandy sighs as she studies how tanned she is, then looks at her own much paler in color arm. She notices Ellis's breasts, she can't help it not when they're there on full display, perfect and tanned all over.   
"I bet they're not real!" Mandy sighs again as she wonders why it is Ellis is so confident and self-assured with everything she does. "and does that woman ever wear any clothes!"   
Then she thinks about the rumors she's heard and the behind the scenes conversations about her but as she watches her shift position in the small bunk she also knows, from what she hears, that she's really good at her job.

Ellis turns in her bed, blinking her eyes as she wakes to the sounds of Mandy moving around. When she finally comes around she's almost forgotten she had a new bunk mate. It's been a long time since she had to share her space.   
"What time is it?" she drags her hand through her long hair and sits up. Taking the hair band from her wrist she rakes her sleep matted locks back with her hand and lifting her arms above her head she ties it in a ponytail.

Mandy still finds herself staring, being the small room it is makes it unavoidable not to look and she blushes feeling slightly uncomfortable and embarrassed because Ellis has caught her looking, but how could she help it, not when her breasts and nipples are out there on display.

"Five am!" she coughs

"Oh jeez!" she rubs the last of sleep from her eyes and laughs "Wonder how Clay's feeling this morning?"

Mandy doesn't even crack as much as a smile as she continues to look at the toned and tanned body in all it's glory now standing in front of her. Wondering how she got so smooth and more noticeably, hair free.  
That's what Mandy notices first, that she doesn't even have a hair on her body. She wants to ask her how she does it, but of course she won't, and she just continues to stare, transfixed at the smooth mound between her legs.   
"You know while we have to share then....maybe you could find a T- shirt or something to sleep in?"

Ellis laughs at her prudish comment "Are you embarrassed about me being naked?" She watches as Mandy hurriedly zips up her toiletries bag trying to ignore her.  
"Oh my god, you are!" she laughs again "Seriously I never imagined someone in the CIA would be this uptight!" She frowns while she watches for some kind of reaction but it doesn't come "Fine!... if it bothers you that much .....I'll find a T-shirt"

"I'll have you know I'm not uptight! ... but while we're talking about things that annoy me .... I would prefer it if you didn't .. you know, when you're in bed!"

"Sorry?" Ellis frowns she doesn't know if it's the time of the morning or if she's doesn't understand what Mandy's implying "I don't know what you mean! ... Don't do what?"

"What you did last night" she gulps "I heard you... when you came back." she sighs " You know with the moaning!... Just it's not appropriate when you're sharing a room!"

Ellis has to bite her lip so that she doesn't laugh out loud   
"Oh right! You don't like my _relaxation _technique... I get ya!" she can't help it but a smile creeps across her face "So, you don't use _relaxation techniques_ to help you unwind then?" her words are meant to taunt and tease Mandy but it fails to provoke a reaction "Do you ever do anything for enjoyment...or do you only get off on your work?"

Mandy coughs "I don't get _off _on anything!"

Ellis laughs "Yeah well that's obvious!"   
Mandy glares at her and Ellis puts her hands up "Sorry!....Look, we got off to a bad start. I just had _something_ on my mind last night" she thinks about all the things she thought of Jason doing to her "I'll try to remember to _relax w_hen you're not here!" she smiles again.

Mandy shakes her head and turns away, as she does something catches her eye out of the window "What the hell is he doing?" she stares hard through the glass "Why's he going in there?" she frowns

"Who?" Ellis is naked beside Mandy leaning over pushing the fly screen to one side to check what she's looking at, as he does her uncovered breast touches Mandy's bare arm. It feels soft against her skin, but Mandy moves herself away quickly as they now both look out of the small pane of glass in the unit window.

"Jason, what's he doing with his suitcase and why is he's going into my bunk?"

Ellis shrugs "I don't know" she coughs and laughs to herself "Maybe he's moving in with you! I mean now that the plumbing's fixed."

"Wait, what?.. The plumbing's fixed!"

"Yeah!..... They got it fixed late last night, wasn't much wrong with it actually" she smirks

"So why ..... Oh my god!" Mandy storms out and marches across the sand track towards the bunk she moved out of the day before.

"Mandy wait!" too late Mandy is gone across the sand filled yard "Oh shit!"

  
Ellis finds her combats and vest and pulls them on over her naked body, in her hurry she forgoes any underwear to swiftly follow Mandy to the bunk they can see, only a few yards from their own.  
"Wait, Mandy!...Ahhh shit!!"

"WHAT THE HELL IS going on?" she shouts at Jason

He shrugs and looks at her "What do you mean what's going on?.. What does it look like? I'm moving my stuff!"   
He puts his trolley case down and picks up a large brown, sealed, envelope on the bed. It his name on the front in large marker pen letters which he frowns at, but doesn't open yet.

"This is my bunk so why are you here?"

"They said I could have it!"

"Who said you could have it?"

"Last night. Someone came and said it was going spare and had my name on it!" he shrugs "What?... .Look, I'm not gonna turn it down, not the way Sonny snores!"

Ellis is in the doorway and looks at him with a smug smile. She bites her lip as she leans against the door frame.

The first thing Jason notices is how sexy she looks, with a just got out of bed vibe about her, probably because she just had. Her messy bed head hair up in a ponytail and hurriedly dressed in military issue beige desert color combats, teamed with a small, tight fitting white vest but no shoes and socks on her feet.  
It's the white vest top that holds his attention. It's virtually see through in the morning sunlight and he can make out her soft breasts beneath it with her two large dark circle nipples ripe and willing him to touch.

"What! I don't believe it. How come they offered it to you? ... You knew I was waiting for the plumbing to be fixed, so I could move back. I told you that last night!" Mandy's still fuming both of them can feel her angry vibe. She feels like Jason's stolen it from her.

Ellis coughs "but.... did you put in a request to move back? " she smiles again. She knows full well that Mandy didn't because it was her that issued the broken plumbing notification and her that pushed Jason's request for a single bunk through.

"A request?...What do you mean a request? No! No, I didn't put in any request!" she sighs "I just assumed as this was my bunk in the first place that I'd move back when it was fixed"

"_Ahhhh! _See.... _big_ mistake .. you shouldn't assume, cos that's not how it works!" Ellis shrugs at her "Oh come on Mandy, it's the military, you know you need forms in triplicate to get anything done! ... You should have requested to go back when they moved you out, otherwise ...." she shrugs again "....they just go to the next priority on the list"   
She smiles at Jason now " Master Chief Hayes must have requested a single bunk.. so, if he was next on the list he would have been automatically issued it!"

"What?!" Mandy frowns "But how the hell can he be next on the list? I mean even if that's the system, BRAVO didn't arrive till earlier this week so there must be other requests waiting before him ..I mean everyone wants a single bunk. So, how come he gets it straight away?"

Ellis shrugs again "Who knows! ...Luck of the draw or maybe someone jumped his name up the queue? Guess we'll never know!"

Jason puts his head down as he smiles, he wondered himself how he suddenly got offered a single bunk and now he knows. Ellis was the only person he made that request to and normally it never happens on deployment. He tries not to laugh at the pent-up look of anger on Mandy's face

"Well you'll just have to swap back!" she looks at him

"I'm not swapping back ... I put in for it and they gave me it .. plus, there's three in our bunk and only two in yours so how is that fair?"

"Because if you don't that means I have to share with... with her... and she ... "she closes her eyes and sighs "....Oh you don't wanna know!"

Ellis can see how pissed Mandy is "Oh come on I'm not that bad to share with..... am I? .. I mean I told you I'd wear some clothes in bed now!"

That statement causes Jason to look up and Mandy looks at her embarrassed "and ... I said I won't do that other thing, you didn't like, while you're there...look, I know how uptight you get about my relaxation techniques!" she laughs.

"Relaxation techniques? "the words fall out of Jason's mouth he's trying to imagine what techniques Ellis would do that Mandy wouldn't like.

Mandy looks embarrassed "I just want to know how come he got special treatment?"

Ellis coughs "Look.... I don't know!" she shrugs "I was just told when Bravo arrived that we were to _satisfy_ any requests that they had while there where here!.... Maybe the accommodation section were told the same thing? Maybe what Bravo want, Bravo get?"

Jason can't look at her he knows what she's saying is for his benefit even if Mandy doesn't. Mandy pushes past Ellis in the doorway and strides back out into the sunlight   
"Thanks for nothing Jason!"

Ellis laughs as she watches Mandy furiously stride back to the bunk that she must now share with her for the foreseeable future. She looks at Jason teasingly biting her lip. She runs her tongue along her teeth "I better get dressed!" she runs her hand down over her vest top slowly.

Jason nods as he still stares at the same white vest top "You know I haven't said Thank you yet!"

"No I guess you haven't!" she smiles "but you can't say I don't meet your requests" she smiles "You know ...I've had to give up a lot personally for you to get this space, so .....I hope you won't waste all this privacy!" she taps her fingernails on the door frame "as I said I need to get dressed... I'll see you around!"

She smiles at him before she leaves _"Five – Three_"

Jason sighs "Oh god!!" he lets out the breath he's holding.  
There was something about her once again that took him to the edge as he reminds himself of her standing there in the doorway, no bra under an almost see through white vest, the dark circles of her nipples teasing him, it's all too much and he once again finds himself adjusting the discomfort in his combats.  
  
As he opens his case to unpack he spots the unopened envelope with his name on. Frowning he undoes the sealed edge. He laughs as he takes the contents out, a large black bikini!

It has a handwritten note pinned on the halter top "In my opinion Clay will look much better in black!"


	7. Let's have some fun!

Mandy looks up as the door to the room opens then closes with a slam, Ellis rushes in and starts undressing, taking her clothes off, changing her T-shirt for a shoestring vest top and light Jacket

Ellis watches Mandy, who's sat on her bunk, working studiously on her laptop "You okay?"

Mandy looks up "Yeah, why?"

"Nothing, just you don't look thrilled! What are you doin'?"

"What does it look like? Working! Are you going to be here all night, cos if you are I'll go find somewhere else to work. I just wanted some peace for a while."

"Um... No! No, you're good. I'm going out!" 

Ellis sits on the bed and looks at her as she changes her socks. Mandy takes a break, shutting her laptop, sighing and rubbing her eyes. Ellis shakes her head and laughs at her.

"What!" Mandy furrows her head at the sound of her mocking laugh

"You! Look at you sat there. Surely you can find something better to do after work, than more work!"

"No! We have something big brewing so I need to finish the intel on it"

"Okay!" Ellis frowns and studies her face "Something to do with BRAVO?"

Mandy shrugs "I can neither confirm nor deny!"

Ellis laughs and shakes her head "Yeah right! Okay, whatever you say!"

Mandy looks up watching Ellis as she brushes her hair and picks up the scarf from the end of her bunk and stuffs it in her pocket. Mandy frowns, she's wondered the purpose of the sheer fabric scarf since she saw it when she arrived. "What's that for?" she not sure she even wants to imagine.

Ellis looks round and coughs "I need it for later!" she smiles, " I told you I'm going  _ out _ !"

"Going out where?" Mandy's slightly intrigued now "Very few places you can go  _ out _ on a base!"

Ellis shrugs "Who said I'm staying on base!" she lets out a broad mischievous smile

"What!! Oh my god! No, what?! You're going outside the wire?"

"Shhh! Oh, look don't get your panties in a wad! We've done it lots of times before. Just gotta take some things to a  _ tea shop _ owner we know!" She smiles again wondering if it was a wise choice to tell a CIA agent what she's up to.

"Ellis! Do you know how stupid that is?"

She laughs "Yeah, I guess! But... it's fun!" she finishes dressing "Oh come on, there's not much excitement around here, and I've been here a lot longer than you, so all the normal things you might find exciting are boring now!"

"You're not going alone?"

"No! No, don't be stupid, even I'm not that much of a thrill seeker!" she laughs "Wes and Lucas are coming with me. You won't rat us out, will you?" she frowns hard now watching her reaction

Mandy falls silent and lets out a deep sigh "I wish you hadn't told me!"

"I didn't tell you. And if asked I'll deny it!" she smiles again unfazed "Hey, you know what, why don't you come?"

Mandy nearly chokes "Me!? Come with you, outside the wire?"

"Don't say it like that. You're CIA, you can call it an intel recon!" she laughs "Oh c'mon... you can't tell me you do everything by the book? Come, have some fun!" Ellis gets up and snatches Mandy's laptop from the bed where it lays.

"Give that back!" She stands up in protest, but Ellis pushes her back on to the bed.

"No, not until you say you'll come! C'mon, let's have fun! You never know, we could make a good team." She smiles and Mandy can't help but laugh. "See I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

"I knew you could smile,"

Mandy laughs again. It feels good. She has to admit she hasn't laughed in a long time or had much fun. 

Perhaps it was something about Ellis's overconfident daring that excited her. She hadn't felt excitement for doing something, other than work, for a while. Normally she only got kicks when she chased down a bad guy.

"Come, don't be boring, you're letting the Ellis name down! Look, we'll only be about two hours, tops. It's a little town, just before the border, and it really has a great tea shop!" She smiles "It's just.. they also like the odd bottle of bourbon." she smiles again "You know, even they like a little excitement and danger." Tilting her head she watches as Mandy frowns. "You know, my friend, Wes? Well, he really goes for this look." She looks her up and down. The tight, black suit and white blouse combo. "I think you might like him, a  _ lot _ of ladies do and you never know, you might get some  _ relaxation _ if you play it right!"

Mandy sighs and shakes her head wondering if sex is all Ellis ever thinks about.

"What? You scared to do it?"

"Scared? No, it's just stupid, it's a risk!"

"Yeah, I know but that's what makes it fun! Look, it's not like we don't take precautions. You can handle a gun right? There's Lucas, me and Wes! C'mon, it'll be fine!"

"Yes, I can handle a gun!" she sighs "That's not that ... "

"There you go then, no problem. Any trouble we just shoot them!" she laughs.

Mandy looks at her, not sure if she's serious about that or not "Look get changed .... you know you want to; I can see it in your eyes."

"Ellis give my laptop back!"

"No! I'm taking it with me if you don't come. Look, I gotta go, I have to get some things so get changed while I'm gone. It'll be fine, everyone does it. He's a nice guy, Abed, at the tea shop. They like Americans. Hey, you might get some useful info." She laughs again as she gets ready to leave, chucking her scarf at Mandy as she opens the bunk room door. "Wow! You disappoint me, didn't imagine being CIA was like this, but I see why you're so uptight. I'll bet you're the one that tells boring stories at parties," Ellis lets out a long reticent sigh, "Okay fine. Stay here, be boring ... but I'm going to have some fun!"

Mandy sighs Ellis's mocking of her, it's getting on her nerves. She's a good Agent, she's been in lots of dangerous situations and handled herself. It wasn't for some,  _ Slut, _ on deployment to call her out over her sensible choices, but the way she's been feeling lately, Ellis's words sting. And it makes her throw caution to the wind "Okay..." she sighs "okay I'll come, but we need to be back in two hours!"

"Two hours? Sure, promise. Ellis smiles "Get changed. I'll be back".

~ # # ~

She locks the door to the storeroom balancing the carton on her knee. As she turns around to go back to Mandy she nearly drops the fragile load because standing inches behind her is Jason "Jeez! You made me jump."

"Why, what are you up to?" he frowns, trying to lift the card flaps to the card carton. "What' in there?"

She smacks his hand away. "None of your damn business, and what are you doing creeping around? Do you always go sneaking up on people?"

"Well, that pretty much sums up my job!" he smiles

She looks at her watch "So did you want something?"

He licks his lips "I might have another request for you."

"Oh, you do?" She puts the card box on the floor, the bottles clink together, inside. Jason frowns at the noise.

"You having a party?"

"Um... no! It's a gift" she smiles mischievously.

"Gift?" he frowns.

"Look um, what did you want, cos I need to be somewhere."

"Well, see I have this new bunk, and well, I think there may be something wrong with my  _ pipework _ ." he coughs as he pushes her gently back against the door.

"Hmm... a problem with your  _ pipework?"  _ she frowns. _ " _ And what do you want me to do exactly?"

"Well, I was gonna request you take a look, you know, see if you think there's anything wrong with it before I get it fixed!"

"I think you need a handy-man for that." she smiles.

"A handyman? That's sexist, isn't it? I thought you might know a handy- _ woman _ ? You know I wouldn't want to waste anyone's time if it was a simple fix, and I have heard that you're an expert at fixing things"

She laughs as they stand smiling at each other. So tempted, right now, to scrap her plans and stay here, but she's not giving in to him just yet. No, he needs to work a little harder to earn a prize - prove his reputation 

"Um.. look I would love to look at your  _ pipework _ but, well...." she looks at her watch " I have to be somewhere. Sorry!"

"Really? Cos, you know, I don't think I will sleep if this problem gets worse, and not sleepin' really frustrates me."

"Yeah, yeah I can imagine, lack of sleep because of pipework issues, that's a terrible thing." she smiles "You know I could recommend some relaxation techniques to try."

"Sounds interesting, perhaps you could tell me more?" Now he's pressing himself against her, pushing her more firmly against the door. 

She smiles. "You know I heard you have something  _ big _ coming up soon! So maybe you need to go to relax?"

"Oh yeah, I definitely have something  _ big  _ coming up!"

She coughs, watching his eyes burning into her. Then she becomes more open about teasing him, running her hand deliberately over the large, hard bulge growing in his beige fatigues. As she reaches down to fetch her box from the floor, her arm presses with more force against the groin of his shorts. It causes a wave of electric pleasure to pulse up through his lower body.  _ Oh, God... _ he sighs closing his eyes. "So, um..... how 'bout you skip the party and come look at my pipes?"

She coughs again and closes her eyes. Now she is tempted "You know as much as I would love to, I can't!" she sighs " I really have to be somewhere!" She steadies the box in her arms "But... thanks for the offer!" she pushes past him to leave

He turns to watch her "What? C'mon Ellis... Seriously, you're really gonna go?"

"Yeah, sorry! Me and my room-mate are busy tonight, washing our hair." She smiles and blows him a kiss.

"What? What the hell does that mean?" he frowns " Oh c.mon... you can't be serious? Look at me, Ellis..." he calls, his frustration obvious. "I still need to thank you.... for the room! C'mon, let me thank you."

She stops for a moment, then turns back looking at him. She smiles. A devilish look comes over her face and she puts the box down, "You know what, I'll show you something, something that'll help you relax." The wickedly, she runs her hands over her Khaki color top... Looking around the base, checking no ones watching, she pulls the front of her top down - exposing her tanned breasts. Those pert nipples, he's been holding out for. Gently, she runs her hand over her bare flesh before quickly covering herself up. "That should help, no?" she smiles. "Just keep that picture in mind while you think about ways to thank me properly." She teasingly bites her lip, staring him in the eyes. Then picking the box up, she strides away. "Oh, and JASON.... " she shouts back to him " just so you know, the score- Six – Three!"

"What?" He frowns unsure what that means.  _ Oh, _ _ my _ G _ od...  _ He thinks might melt against the door from the fire in his pants that she stoked. That image of her exposed flesh, her toned breasts, those beautiful peaked, dark nipples - being offered without letting him touch. She's right, that image is now burned in his brain, even replacing the orange bikini.

He leans against the glass panel in the door, putting his head back he lets out a long deep sigh. Trying desperately to relieve some pressure contained in his shorts. " _ Oh, j _ eez!" 

He smiles, feeling like he's in some hellish pleasure. "That girl is killin' me, now!" He tries to adjust himself through the fabric "Ellis Baxter, you are a bad, bad girl!" he laughs. "God, I need a beer, now!"


	8. We've gotta go!

"You ready?"

Mandy stands dressed in her jeans and Black Tee and Ellis hands her a scarf "Your hair. You know. there's a limit to pushing boundaries" She shrugs.  
  
Mandy sighs almost relieved Y_es a scarf for her hair_ nothing like she imagined Ellis's scarves were for.

"Ellis..... this is really not a good idea!"

"I know ... but what the hell!... Come on, let's have some fun"

"How are we even getting there?"

"Don't worry about that, Wes takes care of it, he has an authorised run so, he has a jeep!...Oh don't look at me like that, ... it's legit we're not stealing any vehicles.... just a few bottles of liquor" she laughs

"This is such a bad idea!" Mandy sighs. She takes a deep breath 

o-o-o-o-o-o

Wes pulls the jeep up in front of them and gets out. Ellis introduces them all " Wes.. Lucas this is my .. sister, Mandy Ellis"

"Sister?" Mandy frowns. The look on her face makes Ellis laugh. Wes and Lucas both know that's a lie, they know who Mandy Ellis is and it's definitely not Ellis Baxter's sister.

Wes, Lucas and Ellis have been there together for the whole of their deployment, they're friends beyond friends, and the closeness is intense, almost a closeness like Bravo have.  
  
Ellis and Wes have had the odd fuck from time to time, mainly because they both like sex and sometimes they get bored. It hasn't happened in a long time, but neither would rule it out from happening again.  
Ellis likes to find girls for Wes and on occasion they have participated together when the right opportunity come along. But one thing Wes makes sure of is that he stays out of her men choices. He certainly doesn't agree with a lot of them but he knows why she likes her current challenge, but then he can also see the pitfalls, and he worries for his friend, that the leader of BRAVO might actually be the one to hurt her.

Ellis smiles as she watches Mandy's eye light up as she looks Wes over. She knows already Wes has a thing for Mandy as he already told her he'd _like to fuck her into next week!_ but.. she also knows he'll probably break her heart. He has a bad habit of breaking ladies hearts.

Wes is tall, very tall, a good six foot five plus of solid dark haired man. He has the most beautiful olive coloured skin which he likes to show off when he can. He works out, not to the extreme so he's bulky and veined, but just toned to perfection.  
If Ellis was looking for a perfect looking fuck buddy then Wes would be it, but there's something sexually that doesn't click with them all of the time and as hard as they tried at one stage to make a relationship work, they both ended up looking for more. So now they accept that it will only ever be friends, but with the occasional benefits.

He smiles at Mandy giving her a view of his pure white teeth and she's already imagining kissing his perfect looking lips. Stubble that's a two-day shadow not too much but just enough and .. Oh, she now imagines it against her skin.  
  
_What the hell_ she thinks to herself, is Ellis's influence rubbing off on her too much already? She can't help herself, Wes is a beautiful specimen of a man and she can't help looking at him. He helps her up into the space in the rear of open back jeep his touch makes her tingle with excitement.  
  
Ellis smiles smugly watching them, her work is done!  
"Why don't I sit up front with Lucas ... He can drive! Leave you two to get to know each other in the back."

Wes nods "That's fine by me ... You okay with that?" he smiles at Mandy

Mandy coughs she's not sure her words will come out "Yeah sure .. fine!"  
  
Wes breaks the seal on one of the bottles of Jack Daniels in the cardboard box and swigs some back, then hands it to Mandy, she hesitates for a moment before taking a large glug from the bottle.  
Ellis watches her before looking at Wes, they exchange glances, Wes smiles at her "So Mandy, tell me what you do?"

o-o-o-o-o-o

The town is not that far out from the base and they can still make out the glow of lights across the open plain of the dark desert sands.  
  
It's a small, quiet place but the "tea shop" is busy with it's more eye frowning evening trade.

As they enter, the main seated area is busy and bustling but as the women step in the whole place goes quiet. Mandy's a little concerned, she doesn't like the fact that they stand out so much. She glances at Ellis for reassurance.  
  
"It's fine Wes will sort it!" Ellis puts her hand on her to hold her still, though she doesn't admit it, this is the part of the adventure that puts Ellis most at unease.  
  
Wes is now greeted by an older man from behind the serving area. They laugh and he pours some of the local brew into glasses and they raise a toast which Wes knocks back and then the whole room goes back to what it was doing, unbothered by the American strangers.  
The girls are now welcomed in and though they have two dozen male eyes on them they are waved over by Abed, the older guy that owns the tea shop. He welcomes Ellis and she introduces Mandy and he shakes her hand.

"Stay off the local brew, even if he insists" Ellis whispers to her "Just smile but don't drink it.. or you'll regret it tomorrow" she laughs

Lucas puts the cardboard box on the countertop and shakes hands with a younger man.  
Mandy guesses he may be a son of the older owner. He eyes her with less welcome and he does make her feel uncomfortable. Mandy's beginning to regret letting herself get goaded into coming now, she should have done more to persuade Ellis not to come here.

Now Lucas sits with some local men to play some kinda of game on a table in the corner. She hears Lucas converse in some form of Arabic and then he laughs as they shuffle him into the game.  
No one else from the group ever bothered to take the time to learn this game except Lucas, he never wins so Wes and Ellis are convinced they change the rules on him, but he enjoys it, and it keeps the locals entertain when he loses, so everyone likes it.

Mandy watches Ellis, Lucas and Wes, they seem relaxed and comfortable here and she wonders how many times they've done this. In fact she wonders how many others from the base come here like this under the radar.

About an hour after lots of drinking. Ellis heads out of the stuffiness of the bar to get some fresh air and to have a cigarette. As she leaves she notices Mandy and Wes in the darkest most private corner of the bar. Mandy is so drunk on the potato wine she warned her not to drink.  
  
Ellis shakes her head "I warned you!" she laughs as she can see the effects are already having an effect, causing her to wildly flirt with Wes.   
He really doesn't appear to be minding and is now moving in with his killer lips crashing them against Mandy's before pushing his tongue half way down her throat, his hand fishing beneath the black T- shirt she's wearing, groping at her breast. Mandy seems to be loving every moment of it.  
  
"Jeez she's gonna have some sort of bad head tomorrow!" Ellis shakes her head as she opens the door to let the cool breeze of the desert night air on her skin.  
She sits on the porch not venturing far, even she's not game enough to leave the safety of the light and the people she knows on her own.

As she sits on the wooden veranda having the last of the cigarette watching the stars in the dark night sky, then her ears twitch to a noise. She frowns turning her head to listen harder   
"What the fuck?!" she can hear the sound again. It's distant and it's hard to distinguish until it carries more on the wind "Oh fuck!" She throws her cigarette down. She can hear the noise more consistently now carrying now across the desert.

She bursts back into the bar and grabs Lucas from his game "We gotta go! Where's Wes and Mandy?"

"What? .. but...No!.. I'm winning!"  
  
"Lucas we gotta go!.. The sirens!"

"What? ... Oh fuck!... Where's Wes?"  
  


Wes and Mandy are now almost surgically attached in the dark corner away from the eyes of the bar.

"Okay, Romeo and Juliet we gotta go!" Ellis hoists Wes up. Wes frowns he's not actually had that much to drink "Why .....what's wrong?"

"The sirens on the base!"

"You're joking!" he looks at her "Oh shit!! .... Dammit! Abed, we'll see you again soon.. Sorry we gotta go!....Mandy come on!"  
  


Lucas says something in Arabic and Abed shakes his hand, as they turn to leave.

"Come on Mandy we have to go!" she's so drunk now and they struggle to pick her up between them "What no!... I'm having fun!"

"Yeah well if we don't get our ass's back..." Ellis sighs "... we are gonna be having a lot less fun for a long time!"

"Why what's going on?" she drunkenly tries to focus

"The sirens we can hear... means the base is going into lock down!....Something must have happened; we need to get back!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They race the jeep back across the desert dirt tracks and as they approach the base gates Wes turns the jeep lights off.

"Who's on gate duty tonight?"

Lucas looks at her "err mm... Casey!"

"Fuck!.. You go then!"

Lucas laughs "He still not made you're list yet!"

"Ha ha you're funny... just shut up Lucas and get our ass's back in there before we get caught! I can't afford another reprimand for this. Wes!..." she turns to the back of the jeep, he's still got his lips locked on Mandy but this time it's not her lips, instead it's the soft curves of her breast, the T-Shirt she was wearing scrunched up towards her neck exposing her soft white flesh "Stop that!.... get out and speak to Casey!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"What the fuck is that noise!" Sonny sits up in his bunk as all of BRAVO jump up and automatically start to get dressed

"Sirens!" Clay frowns

"I know that Barbie... I mean what the hell are they going off for at this time of night?"

Ray looks round at him "They locking down the base .. means something's going on! We need to get dressed"

"Thank fuck for that!...Means we might see some action finally!" Sonny's annoyed at being woken from his deep sleep but pleased for something finally happening this deployment. He rapidly pulls his pants on and picks up his gun.

Bravo stand in a huddle near their bunk units as the base starts to comes to life, with people and vehicles moving about everywhere. The permanent camp unit crews start moving into their crisis action plans.

Jason stands looking. He stares at Ray "Should we be doing something?"

Ray shrugs "Blackburn's now coming!"

"Eric, what's going on?"

"Hey Jason! Looks like they took some sniper fire at the gate earlier, a marine took a round. So, the base his going to lock down! Might be something for us out of this tomorrow. I'll let you know when we get a briefing together"

"Okay. We'll wait for the update" Jason looks around again "Somethin's not right" he frowns "Where are the girls?... I mean Ellis and Mandy...where are they?"

"What?" Sonny looks round to the bunk's units

"I said where's Ellis and Mandy? .....Have you seen them?"

Sonny looks round again "No! .. Not since earlier but they must be here somewhere, I mean where else would they go?"

"Ellis said she had to be somewhere .. That her and Mandy were washing their hair?"

Clay laughs "Is that code for going out and having fun?"

"If we can't do anything else right now ... then let's try and find them, make sure they're alright!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

  
"Mandy come on!... Shhhhh!..You need to be quiet" Ellis takes a deep breath as they wait by the gate in the darkness "Lucas...." She calls him as he's talking to the gate guards "... blame it on the new girl if we have to" she indicates to Mandy.

Lucas laughs "It's okay, we're in!"

"Thank god" she looks at Wes as they carry Mandy between them the drink has now made her lose the ability to use her legs "That was close..._phewwww!_"

Their relief rapidly turns sour as they step through the gates to find their Commanding officer, Maxwell Bennett, stood there.

"Oh Shitttt!" Wes looks at Ellis as they both take a deep breath.

She looks at Wes and frowns "Lucas ..remember the story ..Okay you'll be fine!"

Lucas is the only one of them that has a family and kids, he's studying hard for his Officer training acceptance. Wes and Ellis have always agreed, in fact it was their idea, they would take the wrap if their missions of excitement got out of control, so that Lucas would never have to risk taking the heat and risk his place.  
This has worked on the three previous occasions that they've actually been caught and they have to hope it would work again now.  
Ellis would always be responsible for taking the main wrap for any serious trouble, as she held a couple of get of jail free cards that she would play if necessary. Though it was possible she'd played them one too many times now,the last time she had been warned strenuously that she was treading on very thin ice.

"Baxter! ...Gunnel! .... Jones! .. Report to my office .. and who ever that is you've got with you ... bring their sorry ass's as well!"

"Holy Shit!" Ellis sighs as they look round. She rolls her eyes as she spots Jason and Bravo watching on.  
  
They look to the side not far from the gate where the Marine that took the sniper round is being treated on a stretcher.  
There's a noticeable amount of '_oh my gods they are stupid ' _being whispered, but everyone knows they aren't the only ones who do it. They're just the unfortunate's tonight that have been caught out. It's the risk that everyone takes.  
Some of the women marines are glad that it's Ellis that's been caught, the fact that she hangs around with their pin up boy, Wes, so much, only adds to her unpopularity where the females of the camp are concerned. Perhaps this time, as some of them hope, it will be time up and she'll be sent packing.

"Casey, what's going on?" Wes inquires about the marine on the stretcher

"Took some sniper fire earlier ...that's why the base is on lock down!... I'm sorry I didn't know you lot were outside. If I'd have known I wouldn't have called it in when you came back!"

Ellis looks at him and smiles  
  
"Sorry Ellis" Casey smiles apologetically at her. Casey has been trying to bed Ellis for as long as they've been at the camp but she's just not interested and even when she's blunt he won't take no for an answer, so she continues to let him try.

"It's not your fault.. you were just doing your job!" Wes smiles at him "Come on." he pushes Ellis and Lucas forward to follow behind Commander Bennett "Let's get this over with .. then maybe we can get some sleep!"


	9. Dinner with Mandy

Ellis stands in the corridor outside the office leaning against the wall next to the door.  
  
She can make out Jason and Trent down the far end of the narrow hallway with what looks like Mandy whose sat on a plastic chair leaned over a bucket.  
  
A man in suit is talking to a man with a beard wearing camo, who she assumes is their commander, Blackburn.and every so often Jason shoots her furtive glances which make her smile.   
There's is no way either of them would speak right now let alone dare to make sexual advances. Though she must admit there is something that stirs feelings deep inside her watching him as he paces back and forward.  
  
Oh why hadn't she just given in to his touches and her burning desire for him earlier? If she had then possibly she wouldn't be stood here now.   
She hadn't because she wanted to tease him more, she still does. The tempting and taunting of him, watching the growing longing she could see was part of what turned her on.  
On their past couple of encounters she could visually see the need for her he had. She knew soon he'd be ripe, like a seed pod ready to burst, burning with desire unable to contain its fruit anymore, ready for the moment that he would, finally, lay his hands on her, when their bodies would come together as one.  
  
  
Her inner fantasies are suddenly shattered by the click of the door opening as Lucas comes out.  
He's not sure if he breathed at all during the whole of Bennett's tirade. It was harsh and to the point making it clear of future consequences.  
That said his balling out seemed to contain many less expletives than the one Wes received shortly before, mainly because there was something about Lucas that made it harder to be so harsh.  
Lucas had this innocence about him, oh he wasn't by any definition, but something about him seemed that way, and everyone, yes everyone liked Lucas.   
It was this fact that saved Ellis and Wes on many occasions.  
  
Wes was to the males of the camp what Ellis was to the females, a threat, a model looking, intelligent poster boy, and the fact he kept most of his company with Ellis wasn't liked by anyone, male or female on the base.  
As far as everyone on camp was concerned they were the rebels who got Lucas into trouble, but it wasn't like that, Lucas knew it, he knew he was as much of troublemaker as they were, he was never lead even if he played that part to get himself off the hook.   
Lucas loved Ellis and Wes dearly, his family loved them just as much and that's why Ellis and Wes would always protect Lucas.

"I'm sorry Ellis"  
She nods at him and smiles "Don't worry... it'll be fine!"

"I .. I can't do this anymore! I can't risk it, not if I want my officer exams!"

She nods again "I know.. don't worry. I told you it will be fine, I promise!" she takes a big sigh as she hears her name called, well not so much called as bellowed.

"I hope you two are not talking out there!"

They both smile as Bennett tries to continue his authority into the corridor.  
"BAXTER GET IN HERE!" the dominating way he shouts only makes it harder for them to both hold back their laugh.  
  
Jason, Trent and Eric look round as they hear her name called, but quickly refocus as Mandy throws up in the bucket, again.

She swallows hard, straightens her appearance and runs her hand through her hair tying it up tighter. The she knocks.

"ENTER!"

"Sir!"  
  


For ten minutes at least she has to endure a roasting of epic proportions.

Even at the end of the corridor Jason and Eric stand silent, just staring towards the space she occupied only minutes ago.  
At one point Eric nearly considers intervening, oh he understood the need for discipline and he knew from the limits that BRAVO pushed that it could be hard to contain those that push against the system,but part of him wasn't sure if the sustained and prolonged loud cussing was appropriate in a space that could be heard by anyone passing by.  
  
Jason's only focus was wondering how she handled it, would she take it or answer back?  
He smiled to himself, he really couldn't see her taking orders but then something about her being brought to heel, under control it stirred a feeling down below.  
He tried to imagine her standing there to attention, holding her gaze, not moving being disciplined, having that rebellious side of her curbed even if it was only for a few moments. He wondered if he could curb her, could he bring her under control or would she always be the one with the upper hand.  
  
He though he'd worked her scoring points system out, though he needed to work out when he'd scored his points, it would be a key to him scoring any more points, because apart from the bikini incident in the storeroom, he couldn't remember him being the one in control and even then he couldn't imagine she did what she did without wanting to. Did he really have control there or had she manipulated him into thinking he did?

Then it stops. The shouting it just stops. The corridor goes silent. Commander Bennett stops his rant. There's nothing.  
In the office he stops shouting and sits on the edge of his desk watching her as she still stands there silent.  
  
Maxwell is a younger officer. He's intelligent and sailed through OCS, but he didn't know about people and he was still learning to lead. He found that part the most difficult and people like Wes and Ellis didn't make it easy for him.

"Ellis why do you continue do this?" he folds his arms and stares at her "You know this is your third reprimand for the same thing now." He lets out a long sigh. He isn't expecting an answer it was rhetorical, he'd asked the same question many times before. Even the times when he hadn't _officially _disciplined them. "It's always you three!" he lets out a long sigh and looks at her standing there rigid to attention "At ease!"  
  
She relaxes her body and he brushes a loose piece of her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. "I can't keep covering for you .. Ellis, this _has_ to be your last warning, do you understand?"  
  
She smiles "Oh come on Maxwell, just don't put it down this time... or if you have to then....blame the CIA! "She shrugs "She wanted to go on some intel recon ... I mean she was determined to go ... what could we do? We couldn't let her go alone could we?"

He smiles and shakes his head "That's total bullshit....and you know it; I'm not putting that down!"

She shrugs and smiles again "Look they'll believe you if you word it right..... and I'll get her to stick to the story, to back it up!"

"What, after she finishes throwing up? Yeah I'm sure you're gonna be popular with her after that!"   
He moves some papers around on his desk "Ellis I'm serious you can't keep doing this! Beside the fact it's too dangerous, especially at the moment, things are getting tense here with the locals you can't keep putting yourselves and the base at risk"

She sighs "I know ...and this is last time .....I promise" she feel his collar on his camo jacket biting her lip "Look, it's just a little excitement now and again. You know how I get bored stuck here in the desert... it's frustrating" she smiles  
  


He puts his hand on hers and removes it from his clothing. Her hand feels soft "I thought the rumour was you had a new toy to play with?"

She laughs "You know you really shouldn't listen to gossip!"

"So ... he's not fucked you yet then?" she frowns, and he continues to stare, he's trying to work the answer to the question from her body language "...Hayes...isn't that the one.... from DEVGRU team?"

She looks away and he breaks out in a broad smile. She wondered how long that would take for word to get around. The rumours started the moment the special forces team touched down, so it doesn't surprise her that Maxwell is already well aware of her interest in someone but he's taking an educated guess at Jason.  
  
He smiles. He's known her long enough now to know how her mind works "If he hasn't yet then you want to, don't you?" He laughs, but she still doesn't answer. "Look.... if you're that bored.... you know we could ..errm...relive some memories" he strokes his hand across his desk "Gets pretty lonely in this office, as you know!"

She smiles thinking about the times she's been stretched out naked on this very desk with Maxwell pounding her from behind.  
Maxwell like girlie girls, maybe because it was all combats and heavy boots on camp. He liked his women to dress up. He liked lace, red lace a favourite if she remembered correctly, and high heels. Oh yes he liked girls in high heels, especially if it made them taller than him and he liked when they called him Commander. One thing guaranteed to frustrate him was if you called him Max during sex.  
  
She smiles at her thoughts. They had some good times in this office.  
  
It was a while back now. It was his new posting to the base so he was was ripe and fresh for picking. Straight out of officer school and he probably couldn't have been given a worse first posting.  
The units here on the base were well established. Most of the crews had been stationed here on and off for long periods of time. They had their own routines, their own pecking orders, their own behind the scenes rules, even within the command structure.  
  
Yes the Military had its rules but here, thousands of miles from normality was like another planet and it established its own eco system one that worked well most of the time, unless something threw it off balance, things like new officers trying to assert their authority.  
She helped him, well it helped her and the unit as they guided him through the bullshit of red tape, keeping him, and them, from coming to any cake eaters attention, especially when they fucked up from time to time.  


Yeah they made a good team for a while and Maxwell had his attractions.  
He was good looking, oh not by the standard Wes set, but he was pleasing on the eye and he had a charm about him, probably because he liked women to be women and treated them nicely when they were. A lot of the women on the base took a shine to his charms but being an Officer it limited their access to him.  
Ellis had lots of access, she made sure of it. She took advantage of the thing Maxwell was most famous for, his size. It was incredible sight to behold and fulfilled her needs, well at least for a while. Maxwell's downfall with Ellis was he wanted more and more control.  
  
That wasn't Ellis's thing. She didn't mind to role play but for him it was a need to control.  
She'd seen it often with people in authority, they either wanted to submit entirely which was no fun at all, well not for Ellis, or they want total dominance and it bored her.  
He wasn't a challenge anymore and while her large collection of coloured lace underwear still did it for him, the novelty for her had worn off.  
  
She did find him a nice replacement, an admin junior called Alice, but the first time the base came in for a shelling from insurgents, Alice lost her nerve and quite the military for good.

"Maxwell you know this was over a long time ago!"

"Still no harm asking!" he smiles "Do you still have that little red lace thong?" he runs his hands all over her side and breast as she pulls away.  
Her body language tells him this is going nowhere now, and he moves away. "Wow!...You have got it bad! I can see he's got in your head and not just your panties" he smiles

She didn't let on, but he was right. Maxwell knew her well, they'd talked lots over the years their likes, dislikes and he was right, Jason was in her head. In fact he was there all the time. Playing out her desires with him whenever she wanted. So much so she worried it might even be disappointing when they finally got to it.  
But right now he wasn't in her head, because right now she needed to think quick, to get her, Wes and Lucas out of trouble. Wes and Lucas were counting on her.  
"Tell you what if you're bored. I could.... get you dinner with the CIA agent?....I know how you like that office admin look.... And she's definitely a girlie girl."

"Dinner.... with Agent Ellis?" Now she had Maxwell's attention. He's had his eye on Mandy since she arrived. She defiantly had the look he liked and yes she was girlie girl, in her tight suits and button shirts "You serious?"

She nods "Yeah!" she takes a breath she says yeah with confidence but in reality she wasn't quite so confident that Mandy would say yes, but she'd work on that "You like her?" she smiles "She's my new roommate you know....Hey you know it would be as close as you're going to get out here, to having two sisters ... you know Ellis and .....Ellis!" she smiles teasing him. She's up close against his chest now feeling the lapels on his jacket.

"What you're offering me a twos up with you and ....."

"Steady!" she laughs "Let's not get ahead of ourselves and .... " she sighs ".... as much as that idea has some appeal, I think she's a little uptight for that just yet. Plus, after tonight...she needs to unwind a bit.... so, what you say about dinner?"  
  
  
She takes the piece of paper with his report for tonight's incident from his hand "and you'll just put....that it was just some local goat herders got a little too close .. I mean you wouldn't want to get Mandy in trouble, before you get to check out her red lace would you?" she gives him this tempting teasing smile as she whispers in his ear.

Maxwell sighs. He cultivates this the image of Mandy stretched out on his desk. Him sliding up that long black pencil skirt to reveal some kind of red lace panties.  
_Oh Jeez!_ there's a stirring in his loins, even just that image has to be worth not writing a report, or does it? No! No, he has to balance that image against disciplining Ellis. She wasn't controlling this, he controlled her. He was the Commander and he takes another deep sigh "Ellis, you know I can't do that!"

She sighs inside and takes a breath but "But Commander..." she whisper with a husky tone to her voice "....I thought you were in control here?" she looks him deep in the eyes "So yes....yes you can, it's easy ... You gave us a roasting, everyone heard it .... Look, just take Lucas and Wes's privileges away for a few days and ... I get you a date with Mandy Ellis... I'll even find her some red lace to wear" she smiles "So....what do you say ... Commander"

"You get me to first base with Mandy Ellis, and I'll forget this!" he takes the report back from her hand.

"Oh no!... I get you to dinner! .. Just dinner.... what you do with her after that is down to you! I'm not guaranteeing you first base....but come on a skilled man like you with all you have to offer, why would that be a problem?"  
  
She puts her hands down on his groin massaging him. Maxwell's one asset was his size and the fact that he knew how to use it "I mean, I've never had an issue so .. someone as frustrated as her should be no problem for you"

"Ellis you are so bad!" he leans into her neck trying to kiss her as he enjoys the massage he's receiving.

"Isn't that what you liked... bad girls that need correcting?" she smiles and pushes him back as she opens the door.  
  
He pushes it shut again and pushes his frustrated hardness into her pert combat clad ass cheeks. "This is your last warning Ellis ... You step out of line or your name comes to my attention, or anyone's attention, for the wrong reasons, and the cosy little set up your Req. teams got going on, will come crashing down, and you'll be on the next plane out of here! Do I make myself clear?"

She nods as he continues to rub himself against her "Yes Sir, Commander sir!... Understood!"

He smiles as she says _those_ words   
_Oh God _ he swallows hard as thinks how much he misses the games they use to play and for just a flicker of a moment, feeling his large expanded hardness against her, she is tempted because of the frustrated longing she has in her own panties. But she won't, she can't because Jason put that frustration there and now she's saving herself for him. It's only him that can take that feeling away, no one else and she so she turns and holds Maxwell back as she opens the door to leave.

"Oh! I nearly forgot.... I put some transfer papers in, and I wondered if you could look them over, push them up the system for me? When Lucas gets his OCS through I want out of this sandpit!"  
  
"I'll take a look and think about it" he straightens himself in his combats "Ellis ...as much as you are a pain in the ass, you're good at your job so I would hate to lose you from this unit"

"But you'll do it?....Please!"

"Like I said I'll think about it. But just stay out of trouble for now!"

She nods. She has no choice, but something in her stomach knots, she gets a feeling, from the hard want in his pants he still has for her, that those papers won't be moving far from Maxwell's in tray, at least not for now.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As she heads back to the bunks she sees Jason standing in the doorway of his. He's shaking his head at her as she walks then as she gets closer he strides over in her direction. By the look on his face she can see he's not happy.

"What the hell were you all playing at?" he has this deep set frown "Have you seen the state Mandy's in?"

Ellis smiles thinking about seeing Mandy over the bucket in the corridor while she waited for her telling off from Maxwell "Oh she's a big girl!....If she can't handle some drink that's her problem!"

"She's still throwing up now! What the hell did you give her?"

"She's back?" she looks towards the unit and the concern on his face "Oh.. relax it was just some local potato wine! I did warn her not to drink it!"  
  


He shakes his head "Yeah she's back... she really doesn't look good!"

Ellis shrugs "I'll check on her... I need to speak to her anyway!"

"You're going to be in so much trouble for this, you do know that?.......What you did was crazy and dangerous... what the hell were you all thinking?"

"Wow! ..Calm down! Jeez, I didn't know you cared so much!" she shrugs again "Look, you play with fire then you'll get a little burnt from time to time...... You need to relax! It's fine, I've sorted it now .... or I will have when I've spoken to Mandy"

  
The desert gets cold when the sun goes down and she can feel the hairs on her arms prickle from the chill. She's only wearing the shoestring vest top and she starts to put her arms back in her light denim jacket she's carrying.  
He can see the cold on her skin the little dimples it makes all over and as she moves to get her body back in some clothes he can see her bra-less nipples erect under the light cotton stretch fabric of her vest.  
They tease him again on purpose and she registers it, making more of a performance of putting her jacket on than is necessary, while she looks him up and down.  
He's stood in only a tee and shorts so she can see the shifting fabric of the beige cotton shorts as they speak. She licks her lip and runs her tongue teasingly on her teeth.  
She's not complaining, he's having the same effect on her, though it's not quite so obvious, even the way he talks when he's annoyed sends a needy wave of excitement through the fibers of her flesh.  
Remembering him pushing her against the storeroom doorway earlier this evening, that's when she should have given into her wants rather than the excitement of going outside the wire. If she had she would have been fucked and relaxed right now instead of trying to fix all this drama.

But now fixing this mess was of ultimate importance and so his hardness and her wet would all have to wait.  
They would have to wait for her to fix dinner between Maxwell and Mandy.  
Still, she sighs, it does no harm to not give Jason Hayes what she can see him longing for, because she can tell even his raised tones of concern hide his guilty pleasure of looking at her. That he wants to reach out and stroke and touch the bronzed flesh in front of him. She can see it and he knows it as she steps closer making sure her now cold pert nipples touch his Tee so that he can feel the sensation through the soft fabric of their limited clothing.   
  
Hard little bullets on his skin he closes his eyes to better enjoy the feeling, while he tries to imagine what it would be like if the fabric wasn't there to protect him from them, her skin against his skin, him finally getting to taste the softness that she's been teasing him with.

"I guess I better go!" she's up close only inches away from his lips but not touching. The hardness in his shorts pressed against the front of her combats. " I can't afford to get in any more trouble tonight!" she smiles.  
Oh yes he knows she's enjoying this. Making him wait, her husky tones teasing him, telling him that all his desires are there waiting but then snatching them away at her will.  
  
He watches her eyes flick back and forward over him "Enjoy your peace and quiet!" she points to his bunk as she grinds her hips round encouraging more movement in his shorts before she walks away. Turning back to bring him back into her web she calls out "You know you still haven't thanked me for meeting your requests!"

She's right he hadn't but he was going to, and when he did he would make sure that she knew she'd been thanked.

She puts her hand on her bunk unit door and turns to look back at him _"Seven – Three!" _She sighs. _Oh he needs to try a bit harder to even this score up._   
She smiles as she closes the bunk room door behind her.


	10. Please, just stop!

"Morning!"

A really fragile Mandy opens her eyes to find Ellis sitting upright on the bed, still without her clothes. She sighs but she doesn't even have the energy to mention that fact.

"You do _not_ look good!" she laughs

Mandy frowns at her, well if you call it a frown.   
Mandy's not sure her head can do anything today, she's not even sure if she's alive. She still feels sick and her head must have some tight band around it, otherwise why would it hurt so much. "Don't talk to me! Never talk to me again!"

Ellis smiles "Here!" she hands her some Tylenol "Take these..." she laughs again "they'll help... a bit!" she can't stop smiling as she hands the bottled water to wash them down.

"I don't think I can get them down, I can't drink anything! Oh my god,I swear.... never again!"

"I did tell you!" Ellis stand up and starts getting dressed "Do not drink the local brew, still.... you gave Wes quite a night!"

"I did! Why,what happened?"

"You don't remember?" she looks at her blank expression "Oh trust me then,you don't want to know but... we did get in quite a bit of trouble sooo..., I kinda need a favor!"

"What?" Mandy worries now, not so much about the trouble but more about what Ellis's favor might be and what did she do with Wes. Not that, that concerns her too much as she did like Wes, a lot!  
  


Ellis sighs and sits down again "I...we,need your help!"

"You need _my_ help? I am gonna like it?"

"Mmmm!....Depends how you look at it!"

Mandy lays back down on her bed "Oh god what is it? I'm not even sure I should be asking!"

"Look we're in trouble .... after last night. So... I negotiated a deal, to keep us out of trouble! But now,now you have to have dinner!"

"I told you I can't eat or drink anything right now!"

"No! I don't mean right now, cos it's like 5:30 am! No, I mean I need to arrange for you to have dinner....with someone!"

"A dinner with someone? With who?!"  
  


Ellis coughs as and takes a moment " Maxwell, my commanding officer" she grimaces as she waits for Mandy's reaction.

"What!" Mandy sits up, then immediately regrets it rubbing her head "Ahhhh! NO! No, I'm not having some date with a guy just to keep you out of trouble. No!.... Ellis ..no! I should have said No to you yesterday, then I wouldn't be feeling like this!"

"No, you should have listened when I told you not to drink the local brew, look, it's not for me, it's for Wes"   
Ellis knows Mandy won't do it for her but she's hoping her taster session with Wes would be a good temptation "He's on his last warning, so ...if you have the dinner and then, and then Wes doesn't get in trouble... simple!"

"And.... I take it you don't get in trouble either?"  
  
"Well, there may be some added positives to this .. yes!" she sighs and frowns "Oh come on Mandy it's just dinner! How hard can it be?"  
Ellis sits watching as Mandy doesn't move, or answer "Look, you have dinner with Maxwell and ... I'll get Wes to finish what he started" she smiles "You liked Wes... yes?"

Mandy frowns she doesn't want to answer but the thought of Wes and what she remembers of him up inside her T shirt does cause her to fidget on her bed. The feeling she gets as she thinks of him is not all that unpleasant "You mean me and Wes.. like...?"

"You and Wes do whatever you wanna do, I don't think there's anything Wes is not game for!" she smiles "I know he enjoyed last night! I'm sure he'd enjoy it a lot more if you were sober!"

Mandy focus's and thinks for a few minutes "Shit! What time did you say it was?"

"Five thirty"

"Oh my god!" Mandy starts to spin around gathering her things and piling laptops and paperwork in her bag, gathering clothes and makeup  
"I have to go! .. Oh shit!" the more she moves the worse she feels, but she needs to get ready.

"Slow down!"

"Slow down, I am in so much trouble! We have a big op today I need to get ready for the briefing! Oh god,I blame you for this!"  
She's still rushing to gather her things she can't even think properly.

"So, I'll organise dinner then....Yes?"

Mandy's not really listening or even sure what she's agreeing to " Yes .. what?.... Yes whatever!" she frowns "No....Wait! What? .. We need to talk about this first... when I get back, don't do anything!"

"Okay!" Ellis smiles "Leave it with me! Oh, and by the way ... do you have any red panties?"

"What!? Red.... No! Ellis, please just don't do anything!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ellis goes to get breakfast and on her way back from the canteen towards the stores she spots Jason.  
She smiles and stops to lean on the small piece of fencing to watch him. He smiles as he sees her standing there all alone and heads towards her.

"Hey!" he looks around to make sure no one is watching

"Hey!" she gives him this big flirtation smile "So..... I hear your _big_ thing is coming up today!"

He nods "Yeah, yeah, my big thing! ...Today!"

"Well, I hope you manage to handle it!" she smiles biting her lip as she teases him.  
  


He's watching her smiling at him and he can feel his arousal coming on. He leans in, brushing her hair back off her shoulder "So, how's Mandy this morning?"

Ellis coughs thinking of the mess Mandy looked when she left "Oh err mmm..... yeah, she's okay! Well I mean she'll be better soon, hope! Actually, being honest... she didn't look great!"  
  
  
They both laugh for a moment, then Jason gets serious "You know what you did.... was totally stupid and really dangerous!"

"Yeah I guess! You gonna give me a telling off too?"

"Maybe..." he sighs "When I get back, if you think you need _telling off_? Of course, I still have to thank you, yet, for my bunk!"

"Okay!.... So, a thank you _and_ a telling off! Mmmm... sounds just like my kinda thing!"

She smiles and now he can't resist her, she has this look in her eyes that just says 'Fuck me' and though he doesn't have time to fulfil her wish right now, he wants to give her something.

He looks around, checking that there's no one who'll see them at this early hour, and taking his hand on the back of her head he crashes his lips into hers.

That's it. That's all she needs, and it opens the gates, unleashing her desires. She's all over his face.

Her mouth kissing his, taking each other's desires, wants,passion and allowing it all to explode.

His tongue against hers, the wetness of his mouth taking all of her oxygen, but she just can't get enough.

And though they really don't have time to get his thing done, he's created a need, a need for something more.

Pushing her out of view, her back against the wall on the side of the stores, he pulls out the hem of her white Tee from where it's tucked in her combats and his hand is up in the space that it creates, finding his way to the thing that's been teasing him, her breast. Kneading and caressing her with both softness and strength, before his fingers settle on her nipple,that little bullet of pleasure that's sticking out,hard, wanting and begging for his touch.

He's on it touching, pulling and squeezing at that soft, hard nipple of hers.

_"Ohhhh!" _She lets out a deep breathless sigh as he pulls at her skin, the rough tugging sensations driving a shooting pulse down her body, between her legs. It's becoming so enjoyable she thinks she might implode with pleasure "ohhhhh .. Jason!" she can't get her breath now.

He looks up at her eyes for a moment, unlocking his lips watching her eyes, closed so she can also enjoy the sensation he's bringing from his touch on her soft mounds.   
He smiles "Mmmm!...Someone likes that!"

She smiles and puts her had on the hardness now filling his combat pant fabric   
"Yeah someone does!" she smiles back teasing and willing him on. She finds the deepest breath in her body and lets it out "_Oh god!!...._ You know."she's breathless with want "I really must get to work!"

"Yeah me too!" he smiles "But, I'll be back in a day or so.. finish this off! Sounds like you may have some issues that need fixing!"

She nods "Yeah .. I think I might need a hand with a few things!" she laughs trying to gather her breath

"Well .... I'll bring my tool, see what we can do"

He leans back in, plunging his tongue in the warmth of her mouth, her hands wrapped round his head, fingers pulling at his hair with a total wanton lust for him.  
She has her knee bent, foot against the wall just so he can push himself against her harder, so she can feel the full effect of him, even through the canvas material of his pants. A barrier that when he gets back she will make sure isn't there, and then she can take him inside her.  
  
Coming up for breath she holds him back from her body "You need to go!"  
She looks at him with a desperate want, her chest pounding as her heart beats so fast and she feels like her womanly parts might explode.  
  
Jason just keeps looking at her, he wants her so badly right now, and he's showing it by kneading her breasts harder.  
  
Then he takes another look round because he can't resist to do it and he has to know what it feels like before he leaves. The thing he's wanted to do since the other day when she flaunted herself to him. He pulls her Tee up uncovering those beautiful tanned breasts and puts his mouth to one, while his other hand holds the fabric, fully exposing her.  
  
The feel of her naked breast in the open air and his mouth on them nearly sends her into full melt down _" Ohhhh Godddd!!!_"  
She takes quick panting breathes trying to stop herself "Oh stop! .._huh! Huh!!_ ....Jason stop!!!!" She pushes him back because if he doesn't stop now, it won't matter where they are or who sees them she's going to have to have him inside her. She laughs a nervously frustrated laugh "Please ... just go! I'll see you when you get back!"

He nods and kisses her one more time before pulling her T-Shirt back into place.

She leans her head back against the wall and closes her eyes, hoping the aroused pleasure between her legs fades fast, though she suspects it wont fade till he's back, till he gives her what she craves. No now all they've done is put both their bodies into a state of pure agony.

He turns back and smiles then starts to walk away closing his own eyes as he does. "Oh... God damn!!" He thought for a moment he might just explode in his pants.   
Now all has to do is struggle through the mission and get back. Then, then she would be his. Yes, he was finally going to have her. He'll take her and he'll show her. Show her exactly why he has the reputation he does.


	11. A reputation for being a slut!

It's two days later.

Ellis hears the noise first before they actually come into sight. Then there they are, the Whump! Whump, whump! of the rota blades overhead, the dust and sand plumes up into the air as the first of the helos is guided into land.

"Did you hear what happened?" Wes comes up behind her and she turns around and nods. He sighs as he puts his arms around her shoulders "It'll be okay!"

"Do you know anything else?" she grips one of his hands on her shoulder with hers

"No, no more than what we were told earlier"

She sighs "Well here they come, so we'll know soon enough!"

"Hey guys are they back?" Lucas frowns from the glare of the sunlight

"Just arrived"

"And...?"

She shrugs "They've not unloaded yet." 

Wes looks at Lucas and shakes his head as they watch the helo doors open and the first of the flight crews start to disembark.   
Ellis has this nervous knot in her stomach as she watches the first Marines jump out, shielding themselves as the second helo kicks up a dust storm on the ground.

The base is bustling and busy with vehicles whizzing around and lots of people moving things from place to place.   
  
There's been a massive firefight overnight and some of the injured have been brought back earlier.  
BRAVO team are still out there, tasked with rescuing, or recovering, some trapped marines. Trying to save them from the possibility of capture. That's the only information Wes, Ellis and Lucas had. But the thing that tied the the hard knotted lump in her throat was that someone had been killed.   
Who?... That was something they didn't know.   
There was no further information. Everywhere was in lock down and even Ellis and Wes's attempts to get an update from Mandy were fruitless, they couldn't even get to speak with her.

They all take a deep breath as the flag draped coffin is unloaded and marched slowly away, followed by two more injured marines.

"Where are they?" she nervously looks at Lucas now stood by her side, as Wes towers over her, his arms draped over her shoulders holding her tight to his chest. He doesn't say a word just grips her tighter as she takes deep breath and holds it. 

"Are they on this one?" Lucas stands on tip toes as he tries to make out who's unloading from the second landed helo but he can't quite because as the third one comes down to land it whips up the dust to block his view.   
  
They continue to stand there for what seems a life time of minutes, then finally, they see Ray and Sonny jump down from the second helo side door. They help Clay off, he has his arm wrapped in a bandage and is limping slightly, he's followed by the dog.  
  
_Shit!! Where is he!_   
She stands up taller reaching up to see, her breathing gets deeper but then her tension suddenly releases as Jason jumps down behind the dog, followed in random succession by Brock, calling the dog to heel and then Trent.

"Oh...thank God!" she lets out the breath she didn't even realise she held and rubs the sweat beads off her forehead.

Wes gives Lucas this concerned look as they both feel her tension release. They're concerned because now they worry more about their friend, that despite her assurances and protests they worry that she has too much emotion invested in Bravo's leader.  
It's not normal behavior for her, and they worry she's wrapped up too much, in the idea of being with him.

Wes pulls her in tighter to his body. He laughs as he kisses the top of her head "See,...you're still gonna get your fuck! ...Come on excitement over... I need a drink!"

She smiles and Lucas laughs as they head back, her keeping her eyes on Jason as Bravo team walk back across the tarmac.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The door to the bunk unit is a few inches open and she knocks gently on the wooden frame. There's no answer but she can make him out, sitting there on the bed, his head leaned back with his eyes closed.   
She smiles watching him half asleep he looks so peaceful sitting there still wearing his full combat gear. She coughs and calls softly "Hey...you okay?"

He opens his eyes to acknowledge her but doesn't move.   
She doesn't say a word for a few moments as she takes a deep breath "Do you want me to go?"

He shrugs and she steps inside the doorway, swallowing the lump that's built in her throat   
"You know I heard what happened!.... Wes said he went and saw Clay... they've patched him up now.. it was just superficial stuff, so they've let him go."   
She smiles but still doesn't get anything in return "You know.... I don't know how those pair have ended up such buddies but they're stirring up the fan girls in the canteen..." she smiles again "...Them two hanging out together, it's quite a sight! ... Certainly pushed the oestrogen levels on the base up a notch!" she smiles but he still doesn't respond.

She sucks the air through her teeth and watches him a moment in quiet contemplation "You know what .. I am gonna go!" she taps her fingernails on the door frame "You look like you wanna be on your own?!"

"The intel was bad! .. We didn't have it all"

She stops were she is and looks down at the floor before her eyes meet his "It's not your fault....you know!.... Stuff....it happens .. out here...death .. it's like a damn cloud.. always there, like it's just waiting for that one time .. for you to just......you know! But that's how it is. It's what we live with" she sighs

"Twenty-six!"

She frowns "Twenty-six?.... Sorry... I don't follow"

"Twenty-six years old.. that marine. The one in the coffin. The one we brought back.... He has a wife, a kid, another baby on the way!"

She swallows again and nods "Yeah .. yeah I know!"

"You knew him?"

She shrugs "Kind of .. he used to come and ask from some chewy sweet things .. it was something his kid liked." She smiles thinking about it "He use to send them home, all that way back home" she laughs " just to say Daddy sent something in the mail!....Something his wife could have picked up at the grocery store but... he wanted it to come from daddy!" she shakes her head thinking about it.

Jason stands up and is standing over her. She looks at him as he shadows her, putting his hand to her cheek. She swallows the dryness in her throat anticipating his next touch.

Then without a word he's kissing her.   
But this time it's rough, it's needy it's not like the way it was before he left.   
  
He pulls at her hair, twisting it in his hand making her flinch. His mouth and his stubble are on her neck not her lips, rough kisses and tugging of her hair which cause her to pull back from him.  
  
Then his hand is on the buttons of her pants, tugging roughly at them trying to undo them. This is a _have_ not a desire for her. He wants to _have _her.  
Unlike before when the sexual chemistry lit them both up and they wanted each other with burning desire, this, this is him trying to take her like a possession, like a toy for him to use.   
  
"Woah!.. Jason slow down!" she tries to laugh him off, she's been here before with drunken soldiers that she's turned away, who then think they have right to have what they want.   
His hand is still firmly tangled in her hair and he pulls her into him and pushes the door shut with his free hand.   
Then pushing her against the wooden frame he's tugging aggressively at her T-Shirt groping at her breast, biting into her neck trying to fulfil his need for her.  
This is a different Jason to one that she wanted and willed to take her the morning before he left. That morning he left her frustrated, left her wanting him, him wanting her.   
No, this is aggressive. This she doesn't want. This is him wanting sex to fulfil a tension inside himself.

"Woah! Jason stop!" she holds him back "What the hell's going on?" she looks him deep in the eyes he hears the words but he he doesn't see her.

"I don't know you tell me, I thought this is what you wanted?... I thought this what you came looking for?.. That little tease at the door.. I thought you wanted to fuck!?"

"Stop it!" that stung the way he said those words, its not playful like before and she stares at him, her eyes searching him, searching for the Jason that left only a day or two ago, because right now he's not here and she doesn't know who is. "No!..No this is not what I want!"

"Oh.... right so all that before ....all that laying yourself on a plate, you offering yourself to me... this is now not what you want? ...Well make your god damn mind up!"

"What is this? ..Jason, where's this come from?" she frowns "You need take a step back, You know maybe get a shower, clean up ... sleep it off!"

"You're a tease!"

She takes a breath a lump of emotion fills her throat, she thinks she might cry but there's no way she will let him see her reduced to that "Sorry!" she stands back hand on the door to open it.

"You.... you're tease! " he has this anger in his eyes now "A tease, with a reputation for being a slut!"

She takes a breath she doesn't even have words to really respond   
"What the fuck! ... Where the hell do you get off talking to me like that?" she holds him back "Get the _fuck _off me!"

"Oh .. what so don't want it now?"

"Jason... " she pleads with him "....I don't understand.. Did I do something to you?"

"What you don't want to add me to your list?" she brushes her hair back off her should but she pulls away from his touch "Oh, I heard it's a very, very long list"

She swallows hard "I don't know who the fuck you've been listening to, but you need to stop, right now!"

"Oh so the rumors are not true then?.... Hmmm? What you're not gonna put out on our first date!"

She slaps him hard across the cheek, holding back the tears that are welling in her eyes "I thought you were better than this... better than the rumor and gossip mongers.. .. but I guess you're just like every other ego driven, self centered nothing special, asshole!!"

"Oh so, you don't sleep around.. is that what you're telling me?" he stands smiling at her. Now he can see the hurt he's causing, hurt that's pushing her away "You come here .. but now when I want it .. you don't wanna put out, when all you've done since I got here is offer it up!"

"You know what I'm gonna go .. I know you're upset about this mission.. I get that .. but that's not my fault! Whatever is going on in your head ... you need to sort that shit out! "   
She wipes the tear off her cheek "You've hurt me!" she shakes her head now she can't stop the big beaded tears and she keeps wiping them away "I don't need to be treated like this... not by you!"

For a moment he has a pang of regret, the guilt of what he's said starts to creep in but as she pushes his hand away from her cheek, he doesn't know why but the anger flows back in "Treated like what? Like what you are.... a whore!"

She shakes her head "I am so disappointed " the look she gives him now it cuts into him "You know I thought you were better than this. God!...I'm so dumb!... . I don't know why I put you on a pedestal but I thought you were going to be more than a quick fumble that meant nothing. I knew you had a reputation but....." she pulls her T shirt down and pulls his hand off the door and leaves.

Outside the door as she walks away she can't hold back her tears any longer and she sobs uncontrollably, sucking it back just long enough to be out of his earshot and then she crumples against the wall of the bunk unit and the tears and sobs can't be contained.   
She has this knife like pain in her stomach that _his_ words made and she can't hide it any longer. The things he said, yes she'd heard them all before but somehow she'd always laughed it off, so why this time did it hurt so much.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh shit!!..Damn it!!"  
He leans back on the wall of his bunk room, now hitting himself on the forehead with the palm of his hand. "What the hell, Jason!"   
He doubles in half as the wall of pain and hurt inside hits him.   
He has no idea why he did that, apart from the fact he's angry. Angry with himself for the mess up of the operation. Angry that someone got killed because he thought _his _team weren't on their game and now what did he do with that anger? He did like all the times before, when he couldn't deal with it he lashed out, lashed out on someone he actually cared about.  
Yes, he'd taken all his tiredness and anger and used it against Ellis so that she had to carry his hurt.   
  
Oh he would need to make amends for this, but right now he doubts whether she'll ever speak to him again. Maybe he'd pushed her too far and maybe he would lose her forever now.

"Ahhhhh!...... _FUCK!!!!!"_ he screams out as he punches the metal locker cabinet next to the wall


	12. Do you want to do something exciting?

"Hey!" She smiles at Wes.  
He's sat at the table with Sonny and Clay who look up to acknowledge her as she lifts Wes's beer from in front of him and starts drinking it.   
  
"You okay?" he frowns. If though she tries to hide it he knows her well enough to tell she's been crying. It doesn't happen often, but he knows the signs.

"Will be after a few of these!" she doesn't look at him only a quick glance, if she looks too long she thinks she might cry again. Drinking rapidly from the beer keeps the emotions from building a lump in her throat.  
  
Wes keeps watching her "What happened?" he waits but doesn't get an answer "Ellis!.....I said what happened?"

"Nothing!" she shakes her head looking away.

Clay and Sonny look round and smile at her. "Everything okay?" Sonny frowns as Wes raises his eyebrows at him and shrug.

"Yeah I'm fine!" she lies and Wes knows it, she can see him getting riled up inside "I am, I'm fine... honest!"  
Now Wes doesn't believe her at all and he lets out an annoyed sigh

"So..... what we talking about?" she smiles at Clay and Sonny still drinking from Wes's beer she's now claimed as hers.

"Oh these two are discussing work out routines who has the prettiest weights!" Sonny laughs "Perhaps you can give us something to .... "he yawns "...give us some excitement, cos if there is such a thing these two might just actually bore me to death!"

"Wow!... that sounds ......interesting, not!" she smiles "So Wes, how far you got with Mandy then?... Have you eased her out of her tiny panties yet?"

Clay nearly chokes on his beer "You're trying to get it on with Mandy!..... Good luck with that! She's a cold one to crack!"

Ellis smiles "What do you mean try .....he already did!" Wes and Ellis high five "To be fair though, she was steaming drunk on local brew... so I'm not sure if that actually counts as a win!"

Sonny raises his eyebrows frowning "No!.. No see that can't count not if she can't remember what you did"  
  
"Oh ..... if she remembers nothing else from the other night, let me assure you, she remembers what Wes did " Ellis laughs.

Wes shrugs "What can I say!.... But I'm assuring you she will be stone cold sober next time and it will be soon!" He holds up his phone showing Ellis a glimpse of a text Mandy sent him.

"Oh my god!.....You ..... ahhh!!!" she laughs as she reads it.

"Yeah well ... she better not let it affect her again ... cos Jason ain't half mad at her for today's shit storm!"  
  


Ellis frowns "He's mad at Mandy... why?"

"Her intel was incomplete... I'm tellin' ya everyone needs to stay the hell away from him till he cools down today!"

"Yeah I heard ... I just thank god as was getting this arm looked and missed De brief.... by all accounts he was raging!"

"Sure as hell was!.. Jeez, I've not seen him like that in... _phewww!_ I don't know how long!"

Ellis let's out a small awkward smile "I'm sure he'll calm down ..... I'm gonna get some more beers!"

Wes follows behind her "So you gonna tell me what he did?"

She shakes her head "It's fine! I'm fine!.... Like Sonny said .. he's mad about the mission" she picks up the beers and hands one to Wes

"Did he hurt you?....Cos if he did...you know I'll sort it!"

"No! ... No it didn't get that far... Like they said he's just angry ... He needs to cool down .. I should have stayed away.. given him some space!" 

She smiles but Wes doesn't buy it. "What did he say to you?"

She looks down as she wipes away the tear that rolls down her cheek "Wes don't .. just leave it!"

"Ellis!... _What... did..._ he say?"

Now she can't hold her tears she looks down trying to hide them from the people around. She swallows the lump hurting in her throat "Oh Wes...." She sniffs " .. he ..he called me a slut ...and whore!... I just wasn't expecting it after the other morning" she takes a breath "I'm fine.... I just let it get to me... I should have known better" she drinks her beer  
"You'd thought I would have learned by now what these special forces are like!"  
She leans into Wes shoulder as he puts his arm round her. She sniffs back her tears, hiding in his arms until she gathers herself.

"Fuckin' asshole! .. .He should _not_ be taking his shit out on you!" He sups his beer and holds her head "You wait till I get my hands on him!"

Clay grabs a beer. He can see she's upset and it concerns him "She okay?"   
  
Wes frowns and nods "Yeah, yeah!... Time of the month ...you know.. she gets like this!"

Ellis laughs out loud "Asshole!" she sits up and slaps Wes on the arm and smiles at Clay "I'm fine .. just tired been a long day!"  
Wes wraps his arm back round her and holds her while he continues to drink his beer.

Clay nods "I didn't know if ..err mmm Jason... " he stops as Wes shakes his head indicating for Clay to leave it.   
Sonny watches them, he too guesses she's probably has a run in with Jason's wrath.  
  


"Oh Jeez! He's got some front!" Wes puts his beer down and goes to stand up as Jason walks in where they're sitting in the outside eating area.

"Oh Shit!" she gathers herself wiping the tears off her cheek "Wes leave it!" she pulls him to sit down "Please...just leave it .. not today, not here!"

"Fine!" he keeps staring at Jason "But only because you asked me! ....I will have him for this!"

"Let's just go sit over there with Sonny and drink some beer... Where's Lucas by the way?"

Sonny looks round as the others sit down "So guess Jason's not gonna join us then!"

"Guess not!" 

"You know when are you two actually gonna get the deed done cos ..... you're sure as hell frustrating him now!"

She laughs "I'm not sure that's gonna happen, now.... I don't think I'm what he's looking for!" she smiles awkwardly her glance going from Sonny to Wes then quickly she looks up checking what Jason's doing before looking back at Sonny and giving him another smile.

"What?.. No no ..you and him, that's a sure thing. You know... and he'll kill me if he thinks I've told ya..... but I've not seen him this frustrated by a woman since..... Well I can't even remember!"

"Really?....." she sighs and takes a breath "... Well he sure as hell has a funny way of showing it!" Quickly trying to change the subject from that of her and Jason she looks around the eating area and laughs "You know ....I don't think I've ever seen this many females in here!"

Sonny looks round checking out and she's right, there are tables of smiling female soldiers everywhere, even some of the British forces ones he can tell from the accents. In fact, if he hadn't promised himself to Davis, he would be enjoying every moment of this. "So, what's going on?"

She points her beer bottle in the direction of Wes and Clay where they're standing still comparing notes about weight ratios, "I'll give a guess, it's our new dynamic duo there..... They seem to be causing a bit of stir!" she laughs

They watch as Clay and Wes, one blonde, one dark, both with model looks stand obliviously chatting. Well Clay might be oblivious but she knows Wes will be loving it!  
The poster boys of the military and they have all the combat clad, sex starved military girls here. Hair twirling and batting their eye lids in frustration, trying to get their attention. "Some of these girls need to get out more!" Ellis laughs

"Oh, don't tell me you weren't tempted by our baby seal, I saw you when he arrived!"

She shrugs "He's okay.....but not my type!" she smiles

Sonny nods and sits back in his chair "You got bigger fish to fry!"

She shakes her head reminding herself of Jason's attitude earlier "I think I'm over that!" she puts her beer to her lips.  
  
She looks around as Lucas excitedly comes and sits beside them "Okay.. listen up!.... Do you want to do something exciting?"

She frowns "Depends, are we going to get in trouble?"

"Hmmmm! ... Hopefully not but... it's a risk!"

"Then hell yeah!!" she smiles and kisses Lucas on the forehead " How about you Sonny you up for some excitement with us?"

"Yeah anything's gotta be more exciting than listening to those two talking about cardio's all night so yeah... yeah count me in!"

"Oh okay!" Lucas frowns, he wasn't meaning for the BRAVO Boys to be involved but.. if they want to come they can.

"I'm just getting another beer, then you can fill me in!....Lucas, grab Wes!"

"So........ come on then Lucas, what's so exciting?" Wes leans over the table taking another beer

"Okay... just listen first before you say anything!" he takes a breath "I know I said we wouldn't but... well there's a card game... tonight!"

"Oh Lucas please!.....The only person that's exciting for is you!" Wes frowns "Let's just get some drink from the stores and have a party instead?... We could invite some of these girls!" he smiles

"Yeah but the card game.... it's .... it's at Abed's!"

Wes and Ellis look at each other shooting furtive glances "You want to go to Abed's ... again?"

"Lucas I thought you said you weren't doing that any more because of OCS?" Ellis remembers they're still in trouble from the other night she's not so sure it's a good idea to go again this soon.

"Yeah well...... this is the last time .... I promise! ... Ellis please!" he makes a begging sign with his hands "I got an invite to play from some of the British boys and a couple of marines that I know are going to tag along.... Oh please come on .. I'm in with a good chance of winning! It's gotta be more exciting than sitting here!" He pleads with Wes mainly as he knows Ellis will do it whatever. So it's Wes he has to convince "Come on.. let's go it'll be fun!"

"I don't know Lucas I mean we haven't recovered from the other night yet!" She takes a quick glance round and sees Jason sitting alone, or he was until Molly sits down with him.   
Ellis continues to watch them while she drinks her beer.

Molly is admin for the weapons and gunnery section. She's pretty, young and blonde. Ellis always thinks she seems full of her own self-importance just because she gets to check off weapons on a tick list.   
Ellis use to do that job when she first started, well till she realised requisitions and stores was more lucrative than air to ground missiles.   
Molly looks over at her and smiles, then she seizes her opportunity to immediately start on the obvious hair twirling flirtation aimed at Jason. Word had got round that Ellis had her eyes on Jason so she had plans to stop that in it's tracks.  
  
He looks up and as he does he catches Ellis's gaze. He sighs for a minute, wondering if he should go over and apologise but thinking better of it in a public place in case she makes a scene, so he decides flirting with Molly in return perhaps making Ellis jealous might be the more subtle approach. He touches at Molly's necklace and offers her a drink.

_Oh! Well if that's what he wants let him have it!_

"So ... are we going?" Lucas is impatient now

She shrugs "Don't see why not .. you just better win this time make it worth the trouble!" she kisses his head "You coming?" she frowns at Sonny. Who looks at Clay "A little trip outside the wire? .. Oh, come on..... you're SEAL team right?.... I'm sure you can handle a little trip to a desert tea shop!"

Sonny feels slightly apprehensive, he knows its a bit risk but he takes a breath "Sure why not!.... Could do with stretching my legs... been cooped up here too long!"

"You all sure about this?" Lucas frowns  
  
Ellis shrugs " Well we have a special forces escort this time... I guess they know what they're doing! Why the hell not!" she smiles

Wes looks at her "Sure! ... You know me.. always ready for fun and adventure"

"Great!" Lucas rubs his hands "I'll get us a ride set up.... Oh this is gonna be so good I can't wait!".

Ellis laughs " Lucas you do actually know the rules of this game that you're playing!"

"Yeah!... . Yeah sure I do... well kinda!"

"You up for it Clay?" Wes turns to him   
  
"For what ?"   
  
Wes calls him over then then in a low whisper "Little trip behind the wire for a couple of hours!"

Clay looks at the faces on the others and finishes his beer "Sure!.....Why the hell not!"

"Alright no word to Jason!" Sonny warns them all "He'll have our ass's for this the mood he's in!"

"I think he's got other something else on his mind right now!" Ellis sneers as she sees Molly start to put moves on him, well as much as she'll get away with in a public place.

As they head off to leave. Ellis can't resist teasing them and she puts her bottle in the bin closest to where Jason and Molly sit

"Molly!" she smiles 

"Oh, Hi Ellis!" she smugly smiles looking like she won a trophy "Do you know Jason?" She asks "He's Team Leader with BRAVO .. one of the SEAL teams" Molly knows the whole canteens eyes will be on them all now and she's loving the attention as it will make her the talk of the base tomorrow.

Ellis takes a deep breath "You know, Molly..... I'll give you a free word of advice......try not to get too excited at the thought of him getting in your panties ...... I hate to tell ya he doesn't quite live up to his reputation and you know... I wouldn't want you to be disappointed in the morning!..But have fun!"

Jason's fuming her trying to show him up like this "Yeah well....." Jason answers "You should know all about reputations!"

She closes her eyes as he twists the knife and Molly smirks "Oh ..Ellis certainly lives up to her reputation don't you?" She nods towards Sonny and Clay "I guess some of your team are going to find that out!"

"Ellis!" Wes gets hold of her arm and frowns at Molly "Don't do anything stupid! Don't give them what they want!"

Even though Wes warns her she can't leave it "If you say so Molly!... Not that you'd know anything about excitement ...even if it bit you on the ass!" she looks at Jason "Enjoy your missionary position thrills tonight!" she laughs "Gotta say ... it's your loss...if only you hadn't been such an asshole!"

As she walks away Jason berates himself inside his head for what he said.  
Molly touches his hand " You know we could find somewhere quieter to .. talk"   
  
He pulls away as he spots Ray and Trent. He calls to them and looks at Molly "It's okay if they join us?"

"Yeah .....yeah sure!" she sighs disappointed.


	13. Meteors

Ellis, Lucas and Wes are joined by Sonny and Clay. Loaded into the open back jeep the five of them head out into the fast fading, late evening sun of the desert.  
The other six guys from the base, four Brits and two marine friends of Lucas's, are speeding along in front of them, their jeep kicking up sand plumes some way in front as they pass the last of the daily convoys of trucks and vehicles headed in and out of the base.

Ellis sits in the back with Sonny and Clay. They're bouncing around as they hit the bumps on the dirt tracks. Passing the time, of the drive, by sharing a bottle of Ellis's expensive Mezcal.   
  
For Sonny this feels like heaven, bouncing in a jeep, on deployment, going under the wire with bottle of Mezcal, one he wouldn't normally be able to afford on his salary, _Yeah Man this was life_ _in the teams right here! _He takes another swig "How did you say you get this authorised?"

She smiles "I told you..... one of the officers on the British Camp" she winks at him as he frowns  
  
"Hey, steady there Clay!" he laughs as Clay takes a gulp back "Don't want any repeats of the other night!" he makes a pretend retching action.   
  
Ellis laughs. Sonny and Clay make her laugh so much and she likes that Clay gets on with Wes, not many of the other men that work out and look good get on with Wes, mainly, she guesses, because their intimidated by his look, but where Wes milks his attraction gifts, Clay seems more humble about his own assets and she likes that him and Sonny are so down to earth. Sometimes she found the specialist units, she's encountered, has attitude problems.

"Hey ... I'm good! Just give me the damn bottle!" He snatches it away from Sonny's hand and glug's it back again.

Sonny frowns, he's still sure Clay will be sick. "So where the hell is this place?"

"Not far!" she smiles "Between the base and the border"

"You done this before, I mean apart from the other night?"

She nods as Wes turns around from his seat in the front, and shouts over "Yeah!..... Lots of times. Don't worry.... Abed who owns it.... he's cool!"

"You don't get any trouble..... from the local's I mean?" Clay frowns

"No!" Wes shouts over the noise of the jeep engine "We err.....bring libations to grease the wheels" he holds up a bottle of JD from between his feet "Anyway.. they're use to us now..... plus they like us!" he points to Ellis and Lucas "and us being here keeps the trouble away from their town "

Clay nods they find that often it's not the locals that have the problem with their presence

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They pull up in from the ride and Clay, Sonny and Ellis leap out of the jeep leaving the unfinished Mezcal in the back.   
As is the normal precaution, they leave the jeep a little way out, slightly hidden in a small bushy clearing. This way it draws less attraction to the town.  
  
The other jeep that arrived before them is there as well. These guys had obviously been regularly to know to do this.

Wes does his normal routine of greeting Abed, while Ellis waits with Sonny and Clay at the doorway till they're welcomed in.  
Clay looks around at the faces of locals staring at him, a dozen or more, dark hollow eyes. Did they all like them or did they tolerate them because they were told to, he wondered.   
The atmosphere made Clay feel uncomfortable, this was a hellishly risky thing to be doing, especially with only a side arm for protection, he could see why Wes and Ellis got a kick out of the danger thrill but still Clay and Sonny's SEAL alarm bells were ringing loud now.   
Not a place you could let your guard down, though Lucas looked comfortable enough, already seated at the table and the British guys seemed well at ease and Clay wondered how they managed it, the place gave Clay a chill in his blood for some reason.

Ellis smiles "He's happy!"   
She waits to sit till Wes brings the drinks, there are certain protocols to being strangers and her being a woman, that still needed to be followed. One being she had to wait at the door till she was invited in and the other that Wes had to be seated before she could. She didn't like it but accepted it now.  
Just because they stupidly take the risk attached to come, doesn't mean that they don't try to limit offending the locals once here. So they make a conscious point to be respectful and polite, and to follow the unwritten protocols, and even Ellis knows them letting her, a woman, in is a huge push of their goodwill so there's no way even she will push the boundaries further.

She looks round as she hears Lucas chatting using the basic Arabic he knows. Clay frowns "Lucas speaks the dialect?"

"A bit .. enough to play cards and get us accepted" she laughs "Oh and few other phrases he picked up. Wes tells me you speak some too?"

Clay nods "Yeah this is a newish dialect ... but I understand some"  
  


As they sit they acknowledge the British guys at the card table. She doesn't know them as such, but she has seen them play cards with Lucas on the base, a few times.   
Wes calls Clay over to introduce him to one of the Marine's he recognises from his gym sessions.

Ellis and Sonny roll their eyes.  
"If I'd wanted gym talk we could have stayed back at the base" Sonny shakes his head and drinks the glass of pale white liquid in his glass  
  
"I wouldn't drink that if I was you.......Take it from me ...Lesson learned a long time back!" She laughs as her and Sonny lean back in the seats watching Lucas as they try to understand his game.

An hour passes by and they've sat and chilled with drinks.   
Ellis needs some fresh air or she thinks she might fall asleep soon if she doesn't move. She leaves Sonny to continue watching the others, and she yawns as she looks at her watch, another hour and they really need to be heading back.

  
  
She heads outside to stretch her legs "_hmmmm_!" she sighs taking in the fresh cooler air.   
The stress of the day, her encounter with Jason all forgotten for a moment with a long stretch of her body as she releases all that tension up into the star filled sky.   
As she looks up and takes a deep breath of her surroundings she watches the streaks of light blaze over "Oh yeah, I nearly forgot!" she continues to watch, smiling.

She hurriedly opens the door and heads back in   
"Hey guys!" she gets to the table where they're all gathered now "You wanna go see the meteor showers"

"What?" Sonny frowns

"The meteors, there's a shower you can see it tonight, in the desert....Come on!" she grabs Wes's hand "We'll go watch from where it's darker out there!"

Clay shrugs "Okay cool!" he picks up his drink up and knocks it back as Wes and Sonny stand up to follow her.   
Often on Ops when they had to wait out for hours Clay would lay in position star gazing but it would be nice to do it for once with out being stiff from lying in the same position with a weapon.  
  
Sonny had tried to join in with the card game, but it was too complicated to understand so he went back to trying a glass of potato wine. She was right, he shouldn't have drunk it "Sure, why not!"

"Hey Lucas ......you coming to watch the meteors?" she asks him as the British guys smile at her.

"Err mmm..... No!" he frowns looking at his cards "No...... I'm good.....Hey Ellis, I think I'm .. winning!"

Wes and Ellis look at each other and laugh "Lucas.... I love you but I'm telling you now, you are never winning this game!" she kisses the top of his head "But you sure you don't wanna come watch?"  
  
"No no, I'm good!"  
"Okay...well we're just gonna go watch ..then we'll come back and get you.... Then we really need to think about heading back, it's getting towards guard change."

"Sure ..." he's not really listening as he continues to study his cards. 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The desert night air is cool and quiet, the sky filled to bursting with stars.  
Ellis looks round trying to spot the meteor light show. They walk about ten minutes out into the darkness of the sand and as she looks up again she spots another streak of light.  
  
"There!" she points and everyone stops and drops down in the sand, laying on her back to stare at the universe filled sky."Come on.... Lay down! You can see it better!" she looks at Wes and Clay "Lay down!"

"Lay down!? But aren't there snakes and stuff?" Sonny looks around at the sand with his torch from his phone "Fuck that!....I can look as rocks on fire by standing!"  
  
  
Ellis laughs as Clay and Wes lay down beside her. They watch in the sky as the meteors zoom over, blazing their trails between the stars.   
  
Wes pulls Ellis's head to his shoulder and she tucks in beside him, as he kisses her on the head.  
  


Sonny's spends his time more concerned looking for live creatures "Hey, you think that's a good idea....I mean laying down there...I hear there's some mean critters that can kill you in one bite!"

"Its fine!" Wes laughs "Most of the deadly ones come out in the day for the sun except...."

"Except what ?" Sonny frowns

"Except the leg climbing scorpion!"

"What the ... ! The what?" Sonny tries to make out Wes' face in the darkness. He shines his phone torch on them   
"Hell Sonny!" they all put their hands up the brightness in the dark hurting their eyes and so he turns it back to the ground.  
  
  
Wes smiles as he nudges Clay and Ellis and quietly takes his hand and runs it up the back of Sonny's leg where he's standing.   
  
"Ahhhhh! Fuck!!!...What that hell!....Something.......somethings got me!!!" Sonny screams out.  
  


They all burst into fits of giggling laughter.  
"You son of a bitch !!!!" he kicks sand over Wes "You .. ahhh!! That got me so bad!..... Shit! Give a man a heart attack why dontcha!"

They all can't stop laughing and Ellis lays back, she's happy right now but can't stop thinking about what Jason said to her.   
Wes can make her out in the moonlight and he watches her for a few moments he can still tell what ever it was Jason did it hurt her "You okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm good" she takes his hand and holds it, closing her eyes and taking a deep sigh as he pulls her in to hold her.   
"You wanna talk about it?"  
  
She shakes her head "No! No...." she sighs "...I'm done with it now!" she smiles "Mistake avoided"  
  
Clay looks over the top of her to Wes, Sonny and him know it's Jason that's bothering her, they're not sure what he's said but they can imagine it wasn't good the way he was today.

"You know. Ellis ....you want my advice.....don't worry about it!" Sonny sups on his beer he brought with him "He'll come around!.. It was a stressful day .. he err mm .....wasn't happy about the fuck up with the intel .... and he took it hard that we lost someone. He blamed himself! Give him a couple of days he'll come around!"

"Yeah .. well that's his problem! He still shouldn't have said what he said"

She looks at Wes she's only glad he didn't hear it. Wes has defended her in the past, so she knows he'd have gone crazy if he'd have heard Jason words. He leans in and kisses her forehead as they lay silently watching the sky show.  
  


"What was that?" Sonny frowns and looks around

"Oh come on Sonny it's nothing! You leave them alone they'll leave you alone" Clay laughs "Stop trying to weird us out!"

"I'm not! I meant what's that noise?... I'm serious, Clay listen!"  
  


Clay sits up his ears ringing with desert silence then the more he listens the more he can make out a faint sound. He frowns and shrugs "Nothing I don't think just wind" He now hears it again now slightly louder this time.

"No shhh! Listen......There ... you hear that?"  
  


They all sit up and listen hard the faint noise that's growing but still no ones sure what it is.

"Yeah I hear it, now!" Clay frowns "Sounds like.....a truck!" Clay says with a frown as the noise gets louder "A fast-moving truck!"  
  
Sonny looks round and he sees the headlights heading towards the town, towards the light of the _tea shop_ they just left "he drops down in the sand beside them "Get down!" Ellis puts her head up to look and he pushes her down "Stay down!"

"What?" Ellis and Wes get slightly panicked "What's going on?"

"I don't know! .. Is anyone else coming out here tonight?"  
  
She checks her watch and shakes her head " No! Not this time of night..... one thing we always make sure we're back before guard change at eleven!"  
  
  
They can hear the loudness of the speeding truck now as they watch from where they lay in the sand. Sonny's forgotten all about the snakes and creatures all his focus on is that truck.

"We need to get Lucas!" Ellis feels a sudden rush of panic and stands up only for Clay to drag her back, holding her down in the sand next to him "You need to stay down!"

She can make him out in the dark and she feels the tension in his body which in turn starts making her tense which makes her breathing gets faster and deeper "What about Lucas?"

"We'll get him don't worry, just... just stay down while we work out what's going on!"  
  


She breaths really deep and Wes takes hold of her hand. She grips him tight They all have a very bad feeling about this.

"What's going on?"

Sonny watches then answers "I don't know but I don't think it's good!"   
  
They lay silent. Everything goes quiet and silent . Then there's a huge rush of wind followed by the most massive explosion!  
The vibrations rock their bodies and make their ears ring where they lay still not moving in the sand.

Ellis stands up and cries out "Oh my GODDDD! No!!!!!!!!!!........LUCAS!!!" 


	14. Ellis can you do this?

“Oh my God!..LUCAS!!!!!... No!!!!!!!”   
Ellis is up on her feet and running. Tripping and stumbling in the deserts deep sand, she’s running towards the sound of the explosion.  
Then suddenly she’s not, she’s not running, instead she’s falling, she crashing, she’s hitting the same deep sand beneath her and Clay’s on top of her, his hand over her mouth.  
  
He saw her go and he was behind her grabbing her legs, stopping her running, stopping her heading to the danger and he’s brought her down with a thud “Shhh!.... Shhhhush!!! Ellis, you need to be quiet!”

“No! .... I need to get to LUCAS!! ......I need….Get off me....”

“You need to shut up!” He holds her tight to the floor his weight pining her struggling body.

Sonny and Wes drop down in the sand beside them. Wes switches with Clay taking her wrists and pulling her to sitting position as he focuses her in the eyes with his own “Ellis!.. SHUT UP! " he breaths quickly now "Be quiet! …. Do you understand? BE … QUIET!”

She’s breathing deep now “But … Lucas!!! We have to…..” she turns around pulling at the grip he has on her hands, trying to free herself

“Shhhh! ..I know .. but you need to be quiet!”  


She tries to screams out “ LUC……” but Wes clamps his hand over her mouth.

“Ellis …. Please… just calm down!”

She keeps pulling at the tight grip Wes has on her wrists he’s hurting her and her mind is racing, she just wants to get away from him and get over there, over there to her friend.

Sonny lifts his head, peering over the small hump of sand they landed themselves behind, and all he can see is men running and women screaming with the background ablaze. The Tea Shop full of flames and burning fire. Half the building is gone, and a now a burnt out truck is fully implanted in the front!  
He takes a deep sigh and looks at Clay. They both slowly ease their sidearms from their holders.

  
Ellis panics more now as Wes takes his out too. He eases his hand off her mouth “You need to stay quiet!”  
She nods. She knows she does but all she wants to do is scream for Lucas, to call him, to get him to come to them.

As she looks up from their small burrow in the sand, she takes in the enormity of what’s happened.   
“Oh Jeez!” she sucks in her tears. Her hands shakes she’s not sure if she’s cold, shock or just frightened by the reality now dawning on her.   
Her stomach has a in a knot which hurts so much that she thinks she might die from the pain. The reality is from the scene she can see, there is going to be no hope of getting to Lucas.

Now she struggles to stay calm, to make sense, to understand. Wes is struggling too, but she’s angry because she can’t see how much and all she can see is him being calm.   
How can he be calm and steady while she’s having to hold her breath just to focus!  
She keeps closing her eyes and all she can see is him “That stupid card game .. why didn’t I make him come to see the meteors!”

“Shhhh! Ellis … “ Wes looks at her “I know!... Okay, I know … but we just get out of here then we’ll focus on Lucas…I promise!”

Sonny sighs as they hear more screams and wails coming from the towns people as they start to comprehend what’s happened  
“We need to go .. if they find us here we’re in trouble!”

“They’ll help us! Some of them, they know us .. Wes tell him …. we need to get Lucas!”  
  
“They won’t help us now!” Clay sighs “Right now .. they’ll want someone to blame and that will be us!… No, we need to get out of here!”

Wes nods in agreement he just can’t stop staring at the now devastated place. The place where not long before they stood laughing and joking, and had it not been for Ellis wanting to see the stars they would have been in there too. Wes takes a grateful breath of relief. “Sonny’s right!... We need to go!”

“What!!!!” she stands up and looks in horror “NO!.... No! … No, we can’t! We need to check on Lucas, he might still be alive.. we can’t leave him ….NO!.. I’m not going!”   
She puts her hand to her mouth “Oh my god!!! …….. Fuck!.... What did we do!” she rubs her hand through her hair trying to make some sense of what happened.

“Hey!...Hey Ellis, look at me!” Clay stays calm “ELLIS…. you need to focus… remember you’ve trained for this, right… So, you can do this… you just need to focus”

"No! are you fucking kidding me?... I didn’t train for this …” she points “That .. you think I trained for that.. No!! No, I can’t do this. .you might have done .. I didn’t sign up for this!”

"Yes you did... now you can do this .. I know you can…We have to get out of here.. okay! Yes? … Ellis look at me” he nods his head “Just nod that you understand me”  
  
She takes a deep breath and nods! “Yeah! ....Yes!! Yes.. Okay.” She closes her eyes sucking in all of her emotion. Trying to find some deep inner strength something that will make her put one foot in front of the other and stay quiet.

“Okay, good!.... Now, we need to get back to the base …..I’m sorry but…. “ he takes a moment checking back at the fire and flames “It’s too late for Lucas .. But we need to get back”

  
She doesn’t speak just keep nodding at Clay. He puts his arm round her neck and pulls her close he can see the hurt, he feels for her, but they just need to keep her and Wes in one piece till they get back.

He and Sonny make a plan because it’s too far in the dark to walk, well they could do it but without weapons and some sort of lighting it’s going to be hard going, no for now the safest and quickest option will be to get back to the jeep.

“Okay let’s go.. .keep your eyes peeled who ever sent that truck is probably watching .. last thing we need is to run into a bunch of terrorists running around!”

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Somehow in the dark, stumbling and falling in the sand and rocks, with only the torch light of cell phones to guide them, they manage to find the jeeps.   
They're still sitting where they hid them in the bush covered clearing just off the main dirt road.   
  
Clay helps Ellis into the back. She sits down, head in hands leaning against the side canvas. Lifting her head to run her hands through her hair she spots the half drunken bottle of Mezcal they left. Reaching forward she takes hold and opens it, putting the bottle to her lips she takes a long swig back. As the liquid hits her dry throat it makes her cough and she breaks from the rim before taking another big glug.

“NO!!” Clay snatches it away spilling it down her “No! … No, sorry … you need to stay sober… you’ve gotta focus!... Ellis…” he sighs he feels sorry for her but the last thing they need is her drunk “They’re gonna be all over us when we get back .. they can’t know we’ve been out here drinking!”

“Shit!! ….Shit!” she swallows the hard-dry lump in her throat as she puts her head down and her hands on her head, the harsh facts and possible consequences, now start to become a reality for all of them.

Sonny jumps in the driver’s seat. But just for now he doesn’t start it. There’s an eerie quiet, just the odd banshee like screams from the women of the village as they sit there all reflecting on the enormity of what just happened.  
Sonny's thinking, wondering should they go back?   
Should they check, would Lucas really have survived it? What about the British guys and the marines? Should they, should they go back and risk themselves or should they leave now?  
  
He looks at Clay in the back of the jeep. He’s thinking the exact same things, the connection as BRAVO means they think through the circumstances in the exact same way, he knows exactly what Sonny's thinking about going back so then when Sonny takes a deep sigh and starts the engine, Clay knows that's the right call, and as Sonny slowly pulls the jeep away from its cover he sinks back where's he's sitting letting out his own sigh of relief.

As Ellis looks out the back of the jeep she can see the flames in the night sky.   
She closes her eyes to the hurt in her stomach and shakes her head. “No!.... No!” she cries the unstoppable tears rolling down her cheeks.

Wes starts to ache too, he can feel his hands shaking. It’s not from the cold night air, though that’s what he tells himself as he wipes the tears from his cheeks. The large baubles of water that run down his face the hard lump in his throat that's so painful he can’t swallow.   
He looks at her and touches her hand but that soft touch of his warm hand it's too much for her to cope with and she has her arms round his neck sitting across his lap just sobbing into him . “Fuck!... Wes…. what did we do?”

“Shhh come on!…. Ellis don’t… you gotta hold it together, please…. just a bit longer!”

She shakes her head “but….Lucas!! How the hell do we .. I mean… what the hell are we going to say?”  
  
  
Clay looks at Sonny he’s thinking the same thing. What are they going to say?  
Tonight could end all of their careers. Being outside the wire, drinking and as calm as Sonny and Clay have acted till now it now starts to hit Clay those panicked thoughts in his brain “Stop!”   
The word come out with force and Sonny pulls the jeep up sharp.

“We need to get our story straight! " he takes a breath thinking "She’s right … about what are we gonna say?... .. They’re gonna be all over us, Blackburn, Bennett… Jason.. even the MPs… so we need to come up with a story that they’ll buy of why we were out here!”

Wes nods he knows if nothing else him and Ellis are totally finished after this. Bennett told them as much the other night, but now they need to do all they can to help Sonny and Clay. “Yeah no one’s gonna be able to cover for us this time!”

“Okay!” Sonny thinks staring out into the darkness getting things straight in his own head “Alright … here’s how we play it…… Lucas went with the others .. the Brits and his two marines friends" he looks round at Wes "You heard …that they went to the card game…..you got concerned and yous told us… we … “ he looks at Clay “Shit!" he rubs his hand through his hair were they, Jason and Blackburn were they really gonna buy this? He sighs again "…we said we’d go get him back but….. we only got halfway there before the explosion so... we thought better of it and headed back to base… we don’t know what happened!”

Wes nods “Yeah .. yeah that sounds believable .. we’re still gonna get busted for being out here but… “ he sighs

Sonny shrugs “Maybe … but maybe that gives us a chance… better than If we come clean the truth of what we were doin’!”  
  
Wes looks at Ellis, she’s shivering now, and he wraps his jacket round her shoulders. “You get that?”  
  
she shakes her head “They’re never gonna believe us!”

“They will….. Ellis you have to stick to the story though....we all do...or they’re not gonna believe us!” he sighs as they look at each other “You trust me right?”

She nods “Always .. but…. we got Lucas killed we can’t change that!”

Clay looks at her “Ellis….No! .. No, we didn’t okay…. bad guys killed Lucas…. not you!”  
  
“Ellis!” Wes tries to get her to listen “We didn't kill Lucas ... we didn't make him go... " he grinds his teeth "The truth his he wanted to go … he’d been talking all evening about it … he was worried you wouldn’t go for it so soon after getting in trouble..... but he was gonna go anyway. Ellis, you know Lucas once he makes up his mind about that.. that stupid game! He would have been there even if we hadn’t gone.. now we have to make this right for Clay and Sonny”

Sonny and Clay keep looking at each other Sonny's not convinced she can hold it together “Ellis can you do this? …. because if you can’t ..if you can’t you keep the story together ….then we ‘re all out of here!…. They’re gonna bust our ass’s so bad!”

She nods. She doesn’t like it; she still blames herself no matter what they say. Part of her wants to come clean. To tell everyone they got Lucas killed, but she knows they’ll all lose everything and so for Wes, Clay and Sonny she will stick to the story “Yeah!..... Yeah, I can do it!” she wipes he nose on the back of her hand. sucking back the pain and the tears.

“Good girl!” Wes wraps her in his arms wipes the tear off his cheek

“Okay then .. let’s do it!” Sonny starts the engine and they head slowly back.


	15. I know this is bullshit!

The camp lights are in front of them sooner than they hoped though they're all looking forward to the warmth and safety. As they approach the gates they can see the security has been doubled up and the place is bustling and busy for this time of night.  
  
They all take a deep breath. "Okay we got this?" Sonny looks round from his perch in the driver's seat.   
They all nod.

Ellis's now feels her grief-stricken sickness turn to stomaching churning nerves. Were they really going to be able to convince them of their half-faked story or, after facing Bennett's wrath would they be on the next plane out of here, or worse the questioning of the Military police?   
She guesses they weren't going to know until it was too late to turn around and run back. How she wished she was still lying in the desert watching meteors fly past in the dark sky. Anything but this.  
"Shit!" She takes a deep breath as they pass through the base gates

"You okay!" Wes flashes her one of his smiles although now its tinged with sadness not the usual bright whiteness.

She nods "Yeah you?"

He nods "Kind of." He sighs

There's a collective intake of breath from them all inside the truck as Sonny pulls through the security cordon. They're not questioned just flagged through to a separated zoned waiting area to park. He hopes its because they recognise him as DEVGRU, but he'll guess not and that they're anticipating their arrival for other reasons.

"Oh shit!" Sonny looks at Clay as they see their welcome party.   
Jason stands arms folded next to Blackburn and making it worse General Malcolm, Eric's base command superior, standing behind them both.  
"Okay .. you got this straight, cos there's no going back now!" they all solemnly nod again, as he stops the jeep and turns the engine off.

"Oh, fuck!" Wes looks up seeing Commander Bennett standing there waiting for them.

Ellis sighs she's quite glad that it is only Maxwell stood there, she didn't think she could deal with the alternative, dreading the thought of MPs questioning her. No that's something she's not sure she could have stood up to tonight.   
The thing that does bring a frown to her face is when she makes out the profile of Group Captain Sharpe waiting. "What the hell's he doing here?" she whispers under her breathe though Wes hears her and looks round.

"Who's that?" Clay points him out as everyone who greets him salutes.

Wes answers him "Group captain Sharpe!" he looks at Ellis "He's.... err mmm ...in charge of the whole of the British section on camp ..basically he's as high as it goes for cake eaters here" he keeps his eyes on Ellis "...guess he's here because of the British boys involved!"

As tear leaks down her cheek again, she's trying hard to contain them but every so often she can't hold it and one catches her off guard.

"Ellis come on!" Wes looks taking her hand in his. "You're gonna be okay! Just hold in there"

"I know!" she shrugs

"Ellis ....you can do this!" Sonny turns around "We got no choice now ..Come on, you need to get it together!"

Sonny sounds harsh but she knows he's right she has to pull herself together if they're gonna do this "Okay!" she takes a breath "Yeah okay.. I can do this!"

"Hey ..so,... he the one who authorised your tequila?"

For the first time since the explosion she lets out, an involuntary, laugh and nods "Yeah!" she looks out from the back through the windshield at Captain Sharpe and smiles

"Well..... better not let him see that bottle then....or you seriously gonna be in trouble!" Sonny smiles at her and puts his hand to her cheek "Hey.... You gonna be fine!"

She smiles and lets out a long sigh "How do you do this?"

Sonny looks at Clay and furrows his face "Same way you're going to....one step at a time!"

o-o-o-o-o

  
They all step from of the vehicle and you can almost touch the atmosphere. They're dreading those first words, and it's Jason they have to deal with as he steps towards them.

"What the hell's going on?" he looks back and forward between Sonny and Clay not even acknowledging Wes and Ellis "You sure as hell better have an explanation for this!"

Ellis doesn't even look at him, he made her feel bad enough early let alone trying to explain to him now while trying to hold herself together, but it seems he only wants to talk to Sonny and Clay, so she's relieved in a way.

Sonny takes a breath, he's the first to try their version of what happened and, for now, Jason appears to buy it, then Blackburn is over and then they're all disappearing leaving just Wes and Ellis standing there. Neither really registers any of it both are concentrating on not collapsing into the grief of what happened to Lucas.

Maxwell comes striding over next "You two.... my office!....NOW!"   
  
Wes puts his hand on Ellis's back as Bennett leads them away. She looks up only to catch Sharpe looking at her, he frowns, and she quickly looks away.   
Running her hand through her hair to pull the sand and tangles out. It's a mess and she can feel it all coming out of her ponytail, she takes a deep breath, all she wants is a shower and lie down.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

They've been left for thirty minutes to write up a report of the incident. Her head hurts and writing it down didn't help process it any better.   
Now they're standing in the corridor outside Bennett's office again. They've been stood here for another thirty minutes and neither have said a word, both just staring blankly at the bare wall in front of them.   
Her head is churning over and over, remembering when she kissed Lucas and told him she'd be back for him after they'd looked at the stars. She swallows hard that knotted lump of emotion is back, and she needs to control it. She looks at Wes she can see him struggling now and she takes his hand in hers but neither says a word.

Their attention is torn away from the blank wall for a moment as they look towards the shouting they can hear down the end of the corridor.  
They guess it's being targeted at Sonny and Clay. They're probably holding out, better than her and Wes will, after all they're trained for this stuff. she keeps reminding herself.   
  
  
Suddenly a door slams and Commander Bennett strides down the corridor towards them. She takes a deep breath and they both stand to attention as he opens the door and ushers them in.  
  
They just stand, still silent, waiting for what's to come. Ellis jolts, her nerves on high alert as the door slams behind them.   
She closes her eyes as he walks front and centre behind his desk to stare at them.   
"So... you care to explain WHAT _the_ HELL YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING OUT THERE!"

She grimaces at the tone of his voice, and takes a deep breath as Wes starts to attempt an explanation.

"DID I Tell you to SPEAK?.....No, so shut the fuck up!... You listen .. because you two don't seem to have done very much of that lately!"   
He takes a breath, she can see the rage in his face " I TOLD YOU this was _NOT_ TO HAPPEN Again!! .... but here we are...." she can hear his voice crack slightly "... except this time there's one less of you!!......You wanna tell me why that is?"

"Sir...." Wes tries to continue as Ellis just concentrates on the stapler on the desk. It's the only thing she think to focus on to keep herself from breaking down in front of him.

"I'm sorry DID I say for you to speak?"

"No Sir! ...Sorry Sir" Wes shakes his head she can hear him struggling now but she can't even look at him because if Wes cracks then she won't hold out.

"NO Sir! Sorry!.... Are you? Sorry! ... And what do you have to say?" he turns to Ellis, she takes another breath, she's not sure she'll be able to answer "I mean normally nothing keeps you quiet so .. what you've got nothing to say?"

She shrugs   
  
"I'm waiting..... Why were you out there when I told you it _wasn't_ to happen again?"

"Sir...." she feels tear rundown her cheek "Commander, Sir we went .." she swallows hard now, struggling for her words "We went to find Lucas .. he err mmm ...." she sniffs "...we err mmm ......" she closes her eyes she can't get the words out.

"OH, SHUT UP! .. I read your bullshit reports..... You think I'm buying that utter crap!"  
He screws them up and throws them on the desk.   
She side glances at Wes wondering _What the hell they do now._

"You know how I know this is bullshit?... Because I know Lucas never went anywhere without you pair ... So, I know he didn't go out there for a card game, without you .. so that, .. those reports...that's all bullshit!"   
  
He takes a deep breath and sits on the edge of the desk watching the pair of them, standing there tall and as straight as they can, hands behind their backs.   
They both look a mess, tired and emotional and he watches them as they slightly relax for a moment.

"Did I tell YOU; YOU could stand at EASE?"

"No!... No Sir!" They both straighten up.   
  
Ellis is struggling hard not to cry every time he raises his voice.   
This is the hardest thing she's ever had to do, and she hates it, she hates being like this in front of him, it's not her and Bennett can see her weakness, and some twisted part of his fantasies likes the control he has right now.  
"You.... what are you snivelling about?.. Oh, what... don't tell me because your stupidity caught up with you finally?"  
He shakes his head and sighs "Oh my god how many times did I tell you all not to go out there? Hmmm!....How many times have you stood here like this?" now he relaxes "You know the shame is I actually liked Lucas!.... and he would have made a good officer"

She closes her eyes and the tears run down her face and she quickly wipes them away before returning her hands behind her back. The lump in her throat is hurting so much now that she feels like she might choke.

Maxwell lets out a really long breath letting his anger go "So, what the hell am I going to do with you pair?..Hmmm?... I've now got to think of some suitable punishment and sort this mess out.... there will be consequences, know that!.....But those reports..." he laughs "I can't use them!"

Ellis and Wes frown at each other unsure what's going to happen. They're confused   
  
He sees the look on their faces "Oh, you wanna know why?"

"Sir.. that's what happened!" Wes quickly answers him

"I don't care!...... I don't care if that's what happen or not .. because..... I can't write a report!" he stares at their even more confused faces " And that means ..that means I don't get to bust your ass onto the next plane out of here.... though maybe that's a punishment right there ....making you stay in this hole, you hate .. now you've lost your friend, having to face that every day.... maybe I don't need to do anything else!"

"Sir .. we can re write them again, put whatever you need us to" Ellis answers him

He laughs and looks her up and down "That's no good ...I told you I can't use them whatever bullshit you write.... because I can't mention this incident... because the powers that be don't want a report naming a DEVGRU team involved in this....... let alone saying half of a team went out under the radar to save some jackass's in my command that then end up with personnel and locals getting killed. So, _we_ can't mention they were anywhere near this incident ... So that means...none of you were near this incident... Do I make myself clear?"

They look at each other a slight sigh of relief that some weird red tape way taking Sonny and Clay has saved them "Sir, Yes sir!"

"Yes, Sir! ... Yes Sir....what?"

Ellis knows from the private dominance games and the roles she's played for him what it is he wants her to say   
"Yes Sir, _Commander_ sir"

He smiles looking her in the eyes, he's enjoying this and he savors the words for a few moments. "Get the hell out of here!" Wes and Ellis turn to leave "Not you... Ellis! ....You wait!"

She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as Wes leaves the office   
"Close the door"   
  
Her heart sinks she just wants to leave, get undressed and sob her heart out in the shower so no one can hear her, so another lecture is not what she needs.  
That's why it takes her by surprise when Maxwell walks up to her and put his arms round her and rests his chin on her head "Ellis, I'm so sorry!"

She tries to hold herself together, but she can't, and she begins to sob into his shoulder "Maxwell, what am I going to do without him?"

"Hey, come on you're gonna get through this... you're tough! ... You know ...if you want me" he stands back and looks her in the eyes " I'm here for you!" he gently kisses her lips, but she pulls away only smiling to acknowledge his concern. She appreciates his concern but she's not interested in revisiting the past.

"I can't do this ...not without Lucas. All I keep thinking about is his kids!"

"Hey, come on" He wraps his arms gently around her again "What the hell were you all doing out there?... How many times did I.....Arrghhhh!" he sighs

"He wanted to play that stupid game!" she shakes her head then take a breath gathering herself "Do we know who the others were?"

"No!.. No, not yet. They think some of them were British....but they haven't retrieved any.... any of the bodies yet,.... that could take a while under the circumstances....The British are pooling the intel with BRAVO command at the moment! .. Between me and you ..the CIA,Mandy, is working on some leads as to who's responsible.... They'll try and start body recovery tomorrow!"

"Oh god!" she takes a breath holding Maxwell tighter and he kisses her head again.   
  
Now he even holds back a tears of his own "Ellis that could have been you there!.... Jeez!"   
  
Though their games have been over for a while now, Maxwell still cares deeply for Ellis.   
They formed a bond for the months they had been together.   
He trusted her with his secret desires and for a while she'd even let him play out some of his dark fantasies.  
But mostly she'd help him to establish his role as Commander, there were times he might have quit if she hadn't encouraged him. She always told him to toughen up when he was leading, but then the people he struggled to get tough with were Ellis, Wes and Lucas, Maybe if he'd been tougher they wouldn't have been out there.  
Oh, he would have to officially buy their story, but they would have all been there together because he knew those three never did anything apart.

o-o-o-o-o-oo-

She finds Wes drinking beer in the tent outside the canteen, sitting on a bench, having a cigarette "Hey!" she smiles at him

"Hey... how'd it go?.. Did he buy it?"

She shrugs "Officially I guess.. I don't know ... I know I need a drink" she lets out a long sigh "God, I'm so tired now!" she looks at her watch, it's gone one in the morning.

"Hey Ellis!" One of the other Marines, a friend they know, comes to have a cigarette "How's he doing?" he looks at Wes  
  
"He's quiet!....You heard any more about what happened?"

"I'm sorry about Lucas " he smiles "No! .. No, not much, there were four British guys and a couple Marines out there.... I haven't heard who.....the British are not giving much away, but they think the card game was a set up..... you know to get them there!"  
  
She looks up. Of course why had they not seen it, about the card game. "Anyone know what happened to Abed?"

"They think he was killed possibly another twenty others...... Look, between you and me.. someone mentioned something about Abed's son not being happy with the illicit runs out there!" he shrugs "But you didn't hear that from me!"

She frowns. Miller knew because he too had been out there and so he knew how lucky he was tonight.

"All that wasted life!" she sighs

"Don't worry... they'll be working on pay back for this! The Brits are taking it hard"

She nods "I better check on Wes....I'll see you around, Miller!"

"Yeah....I'll leave you to it..Ellis, take care!"

Clay is with Wes now; he and Sonny have had their lecture from Jason and Blackburn. She knew cos they heard it in the corridor.

"Hey!"

"Hey!" Clay looks up and smiles they're all quiet, the fun in everyone is gone now.

She wraps herself in Wes arms. He kisses her, deep and so passionately.   
"Wes...." She has her hands in his hair and his hands run down her body "Wes... No!"   
She shakes her head and smiles as she kisses him again. She takes his hands in hers linking her fingers through his and he stops, now just pulling her in tight against him,feeling the comfort in just holding her.

Sonny and Ray have joined them now and they look at each other confused by the scene in front of them.  
She unwraps herself from his hold and takes a beer to drink, wiping the tears off her cheek then sits herself quietly between Wes's legs holding his hand, him stroking her hair. They're both really quiet.

Jason strides over and everyone looks up. She fidgets and holds Wes's hand tighter; she can feel him gripping his hand into a fist "Wes just leave it .. not now!" she smiles at him "Come on!" she leans back and kisses his cheek.  
  
Jason watches them. He's never worked their relationship out. Are they just friends because they always seem much more than that.  
  
"How we doin' ?" they all look up and nod. He thought it would be a good idea to check in on them all, but now he feels more awkward than he thought he would. He feels like he's intruding on their grief.

She looks at him as her tears roll down her cheek, she keeps brushing them away, she doesn't want anyone seeing her this vulnerable.

He's not sure whether to speak or not but he has to say something "How you doin?"

She shakes her head, then nods "I'm okay..." she can hardly get her words out without her voice cracking.   
  
Wes can't sit here either, not listening to Jason's trite sympathies, not after he knows how he spoke to Ellis earlier. It may not seem to matter after whats happened but to him it does.  
Plus he has big tears filling his eyes and he won't let the others see him cry. If Ellis is not going to give into his frustrations then he's going to find someone who will, someone who will comfort his pain.   
She looks up and watches him go "Wes...." she sighs "Wes .. don't go!"   
She closes her eyes, there was a time she would have comforted him the way he wants but right now she can't be that person. She can't be what he wants.

Clay looks at her "I'll go after him .. Check he's okay!"

"Thanks...he'll work it out.... he just needs some time!"  
She gets up to get another beer from the pack as she pulls at the bottles some of them fall loose on to the floor and one smashes.   
The bang and mess it makes is enough to tip her grief over the edge and as she bends down to pick them up she starts to cry uncontrollably. Her body shakes as she tries desperately to not let the guys see her weakness. She holds her head trying to ease the pain. her stomach is in knots as she picks up the pieces of broken glass.  
Jason looks round at Sonny and Ray no one moves for a moment they don't know what to do, they can feel her pain but they're just not sure how to comfort her.

Jason finally cracks. He has to help her, because watching her hurt like this makes him hurt and he can't watch her struggle.   
He lets out a long sigh as he bends down beside her   
"Ellis ... "He takes hold of her hand from the broken bottle "Leave it .. it doesn't matter!" She continues picking the shards of bottle up "Ellis ..." he takes it from her hand and lifts her to standing where he then comforts her by wrapping her in his arms. Turning her around until her head is buried in his chest.   
Holding her tight against him, feeling the vibrations of her body trembling as she sobs, out of control now.  
  
The argument of earlier for him is long forgotten. Today has been tough, so tough on everyone and now he just stands there holding her tight in his arms.

Ray and Sonny decide to take their beers and go "We'll .. err mmm... . give you some space" Jason nods as they quietly leave.

Now it's just her and him. Holding each other and for a moment he forgets where they are as he leans in and kisses her, gently and softly.   
That was all she needed, that soft touch, his lips on hers, now her hand is in his hair pulling him towards her, crashing her lips more firmly, more wantonly against his. She can't get enough of him now.   
His hands are on the curves of her waist, running them up and down drawing her shape in his head.   
She wants him so much now, his body on, and in hers. He can feel it. It makes him hard with desire for her. He's tempted to touch her, but he wants it to be intimate, put himself in the warmth of her, laying his bare flesh against hers but he can't, not here, this is forbidden and their lust is exposed for all to see. He's afraid if he starts he won't be able to stop.   
  
"We can't do this here"he takes her hand "Come with me!"


	16. Jason and Ellis finally had their moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay it gets a bit smutty on this chapter   
If its not your thing then you can skip this chapter with out ruining the story! as I've written it so you don't miss out on any vital story

"So,...you wanna do this?" He smiles toying with her hand as she grips the handrail to the steps of his bunk unit.

She smiles, teasingly biting her lip, as she stands on the third step to the door looking at him as he stands on the second step this makes them eye to eye.   
"I don't know if this is a good idea!" she looks around cautiously. She knows this is wrong.   
It's late and the camp is in sleep mode which means it's much quieter now but there's still every chance that they may get seen   
"I mean I really can't afford to get in any more trouble right now"   
He brushes her hair back off her shoulder as they just stare eye to eye   
"No.. you're probably right.. Look, err mmm ...Ellis, ..I should apologise.. for what I said to you, earlier today.. I should _never_ have said those things"

She shakes her head, that lump of emotion starts to build again in her throat "No you shouldn't, but... you did!" she shrugs "Anyway, it doesn't matter ... it's done!.... I'm over it .. plus, its nothing I've not heard before!" she laughs it off

"I know but... I...I'm sorry, okay?"   
  
She nods in acceptance of his apology. She swallows hard as she watches his eyes. Her hand stroking the side of his face just watching him looking at him feeling the connection between them.  
She leans in and kisses him, it's soft and gentle, she's checking if he wants this "So, we doing this or just waiting for someone to see us?" she smiles.   
He smiles "Oh we are so doing this! I've got a reputation to uphold!" he kisses her back.

o-o-o-o-o-o

Then they're through the door of his bunk and they can't keep their hands off each other. Their mouths locked together.   
He only comes up for air to pull her T-shirt over her head, revealing her white lace bra.   
"Oh god!"   
He stands back looking at her, her bronzed flesh looking so gorgeous. Teasing at his desires. She undoes her jeans and pulls them off, exposing her matching white panties.   
The total effect of her underwear clad body, standing in front of him is already giving him pulses of pleasure.  
He smiles as he studies her, as she stands waiting for his touch. She's what he wanted all this time, and now she's there within reach.   
Starting at her neck, he works his way down her body kissing and gently biting.  
  
She pulls his Tee over his head before running her hands across his torso. Feeling the curves of his muscles and gently examining his flesh, feeling the tension and tightness of his chest. She can feel him trying to hold himself from her, as she stares him deep in the eyes, her watching him, him watching her.  
His hand's now running over the curves of her waist, following round and over her butt and he sighs as she steps back from his hold to undo the clip on her bra.  
She slowly peels it off her body. The straps gliding down her arms and the lace fabric slowly revealing the hidden flesh of her full, lust swollen breasts beneath. She drops it to the floor and is standing there waiting. Waiting for his touch.  
  
Jason takes a long deep breath, looking at her with sex filled excitement. He really doesn't have words "Oh god.... Ellis!!!...You are... " he breathlessly sighs  
  
"Shhh!" she smiles "Don't talk" she kisses his lips with another soft teasing kiss "I've waited too long for this ...I....I just need you to fuck me!"

He smiles thinking how beautiful she looks, and he carefully runs his hands over down her face, following a line down her neck.   
She nuzzles herself into his hand then even more gently the back of his hand traces the curves of her so pert breast. He takes a deep breath, a breath of enjoyment. Savoring her body as she stands there letting him, not saying a word, just allowing him to touch her curves.

As the back of his hand reaches the peak of her, hard and taut, nipple he turns his hand over cupping her gently using his thumb to make circular motions around the smaller darker area of flesh on her breast.   
_"Uhhhhh!"_ She takes a breath in watching him.   
His eyes don't move except to follow his hand. Following his hand in a line down her body to his prize, before resting it on her hip. Then he's tracing the line along the top of her panties.   
His fingers running along the lace on the waist band and gently over the small satin bow on the front.   
Then he's inside the lace fabric, plunging his hand into her moistness. Feeling her womanly softness.  
She takes a sharp intake of breath as he touches that most sensitive part of her. That small nub is on fire waiting for his touch and she grips at his hand to steady herself as the feeling sends an intense flush, rushing up the length of her body  
"_Huh!!!!...... Ohhh_!" she breathless with lustful anticipation as she watches the pure pleasure smiling on his face.   
She closes her eyes while he touches her, then his lips are back crashing against her, his tongue and her tongue entwined, unable to get enough of each other.

He surfaces as his hand is causing waves of sensations through her and she needs some air as she gasps. Her eyes flicking back and forward telling him without words that he's in the right place, as she takes short panting like breaths of excited pleasure.  
"Oh god!"

He can feel from the wetness how much she wants him. She grapples with the buckle on his pants as she does, his hands are back squeezing and groping gently on her breast.   
Then finally, she sets him free from his fabric that is containing the thing that she wants.   
Tugging at him to be with her. She drops to her knees as following his pants down then she's wrapping her mouth gently round him.  
"Oh god!!!..... _Ellis!!!!_ ... oh!!!" he can't get enough as she takes him with eager skill, his hand on the back of her head holding her in place because right now he doesn't want this feeling to leave.  
He leans back, eyes closed enjoying it. Enjoying it too much, he knows if he's to last and give her pleasure then he has to get her to stop!

Holding her back to looks deep in her eyes and she knows she's about to get what she wants. She gets to her feet and stepping away from the material of his khakis he pushes her back towards on the bed.   
Guiding her down on her back as he kneels between her legs, sliding the last of the remaining fabric covering her flesh, pulling her panties down her toned legs, and throwing then on the floor as she opens her legs and offers herself to him. He's tracing his hand round the smoothness of her mound while his fingers search for that small button of pleasure and she arches her back to his touch.  
_"ohhhhhhh!..........huh uuhhhh _....YES!!!" she smiles as she pushes her hips to his hand knowing he's found her weakness.  
He works at it, gently at first, then firmer circular motions that get faster and more in sync with the rocking of her hips _"Ohhhh!"_  
She takes another deep intake of breath as she grips at the covers, while he sits like a spectator watching the the sight of her in pleasure. Her pert nipples now standing proud from her body as she tenses to each one of his touches.   
Then she relaxes as he now covers her nub with his thumb, plunging two fingers deep inside her to experience the soft warmth he's about to take with the hardness of his body.  
"_Uhhhh!....ohhhh_!!....Jason!....._ uhhh!_" she writhes on the sensation he creates, as he feels her muscles tense and relaxed with each pleasure wave. She doesn't want this feeling to stop.  
  
She pants and looks at him shaking her head begging him not to stop as she feel is building to a point of no return.   
"_ohhh! .........Huh huh!!_!" she pants more and more "Jason l..... I want you!" she grabs at his head for him to kiss her.

She gives him this smile, she knows, he's trying to hold out from entering her, because he knows the moment his body's inside her he will release every ounce of what's been building and he doesn't want this intensity to end.  
" Oh .....please !!!..... I...._ uhhh!_" She begs him. She doesn't need words for him to know she wants to feel his fullness pushing against her insides.   
She looks at him with longing, willing and pulling his hand away.   
Forcing his head towards her lips till they lock in the warm pleasure of lips against lips. His tongue against hers,  
Then it's there. She takes a breath as he replaces his hand, and forces his hard stiffness against her, rubbing first to tease, driving her wild with frustration as she pushes her hips closer, willing him inside, trying to keep the flow of friction against her button of pleasure.  
  
He's lost deep in her eyes now, watching and enjoying her. The kissing stops as he brushes her hair back and then she nods giving him her permission to take her.   
He thrusts hard against her causing a sudden unexpected gasp as he plunges in deep, filling all of her insides, causing a loud moan that tells him how much she wants this, how long she's waited and how much pleasure it giving her. His hard inside her soft.  
  
" Ohhhhhhhhhhh! Fuck!!....._huh ..uhhh ..huh_!" she pants as she takes all of him. Again and again he pounds into her. As his movements quicken he has his hand around her naked, beautiful curved butt, forcing her closer to him with each thrust. He wants to lose himself inside her and he can feel it, he's coming, rushing himself to give her it all.  
  
She opens her mouth lost in an intense a wave of pleasurable pain caused by the strength and forece he's now taking her with.   
It's intense, its deep, its hard, full and fast she loves it. She's totally lost in the feeling of the fullness between her legs   
"Oh god!!!!..... I'm ... I'm gonna.....Oh!!.. Jason ... "  
  
He now closes his eyes, concentrating on holding out, and as he feels her warm muscles tighten against his length, it sends his body wild.   
He pulls back and thrusts forward with all his strength, knowing they're lost in each other and he's about to spill his seed inside her and the more she holds him inside, the harder it is for him to hold it back. It takes all his willing, unsure if it's possible but determined nonetheless to hold for her.   
Then as he clamps his mouth around the small pleasure button on her chest and using his free hand he pushes against her thigh, holding her legs wider apart so he can truly experience her full deepness with each inward thrust. Each time he pulls back is a tease of what's coming again causing her breathing to become as series of gasped pants.

"Oh...oh oh!!!...._ hu huh huh!!._....ohhhh! Yes!! ... YES.. ohhhh!"  
She's close, he can feel it. He steadies himself for that sudden rush of release. Willing her to come, now. "Let it go ....." he looks her in the eyes telling her it's okay "Oh yeah!!!"   
  
She nods in quiet acceptance the moment is nearly at an end, and with eyes closed she concentrates on her body and satisfying it, her mind lost in the intense pleasure, her wants, her needs as the wave of orgasm builds to it's final, energy sapping, peak.  
  
Then as his tongue laps the last flicks on the tip of her nipple and he fills his mouth with her softness, gently biting and sucking those tanned mounds, it's all too much, finally sending her crashing over the edge.  
"Ohhhhhhhh!!! .......Shit!!!!" she gasps " Oh god!!!!...Oh Yeah!! ... _huh! ...uhhhh!_"   
Then she can't breathe. She holds the feeling deep in her stomach and very fibre in her body now tenses.   
He knows because feels it all the way down through her and then finally, as he holds still and deep inside her, her muscles clench tight then release and that's it for him.   
He shakes his head because he knows he's going to have to let go and experience the pain and pleasure of release  
"OH!!!! Jeez!!!!.......God!......_Ellis!! _ I'm gonna.... Huh!"

"It's okay!.. Jason, it's okay!... let it go" she pants giving him permission telling him he has satisfied her needs.   
Then that it. She feels his warm liquid fill her inside and as he relaxes against her. They both come down from their high.  
  
She leans her head into the pillow as the weight of his body now falls against her and she smiles, kissing him gently on the mouth, him brushing her hair back smiling watching all the intensity leave her eyes and be replaced by an exhausted contentment.  
Neither says a word. They're heavy breathing means they know. They don't need words as they both feel the enjoyment of each other's quiet.   
He stays inside her to enjoy the final twitches of pleasure. Then as he takes his weight from over the top of her and lays by her side. They know that was it. That was what they'd longed for all this time. That they had wanted each other so much.   
Now she's laying to his side, him pulling her close. Running his hand gently round her over sensitive nipples. She smiles enjoying it until she can't withstand the feeling anymore, and she holds his hand still, linking her fingers in his to get him to stop. For a while he had temporarily suspended her grief.   
She smiles contented.

Jason and Ellis finally had their moment.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey, you awake?" they finally fell asleep wrapped in each other but now, after not nearly long enough, Jason wakes her. "Ellis .. you need to wake up!"

She opens he eyes "Shit!" she sighs rubbing the tiredness from her eyes "What time is it?"

"Four!"

"Oh...fuck!" she sighs and moves position as he kisses her neck "I need to go!" she wearily stretches "before anyone sees me"   
This is the gut-wrenching truth of what they've done. They can't tell anyone. They can't enjoy the moment because it can't be.   
They know that, and though they knew that yet they still they put themselves through it.

She grips his arms round her tighter and turns to face him. He brushes her messed up hair back.

As she kisses him he's watching as the sadness fills the empty space in her eyes, the space he filled with pleasure only a few hours ago.

"What?" she frowns

"Nothing just watching you" he kisses her again making her smile

"Mmmmm!....As nice as this is ...I need to get dressed!"

She sits up and all he can do is put his hands to the soft flesh of her breasts. He loves them, loves touching them and that causes ripples of pleasure inside him. She smiles as he runs his finger round her nipple making it peak. She closes her eyes enjoying it "Jason stop!" putting her hand on his "I have to go!"

"I know... but..." he sighs "So..." he looks her deep in the eyes

"So?" she smiles

"We are gonna do this again, right?.. I mean it's not just a one-night thing!"

"Jason..." she sighs now "I don't know.. you know this... hmmmm!" she sighs again leaning in to kiss him. She doesn't want this to end. Doesn't want this to be one night but there are so many things against it being anything more.

"Hey come on .. I just wanna know I'm worthy of more than a one-night stand right?"

She looks away annoyed "What? ....What does that mean?"

"you know.... just .." he shrugs "I just want more.... How many guys you've had make it to a second time or is it always this way?"

The furrows on her head as she looks at him tell him she's annoyed by his comment   
"What!... Jason .. I can't believe you're asking that!".. she's seriously annoyed, and hurt, as she gets up to find her T shirt.   
She pulls over her head without her bra as she stares at him. He keeps looking at her, she can see the question still there in his face  
"Seriously?!.....You know I'm not doing this!.... .Not now! ... Whatever this is .. that's going on in your head and I'm not doing it!"

She stands up and pulls her back down to sit beside him as he leans up on his elbow looking at her "Hey look,... I just wanna know if I've got competition... Ellis.." he sighs "... I want to see you again but... I won't compete with someone else!"

She shakes her head annoyed he's said that " NO!... Fuck you Jason ...You don't do this! Jeez!" she stares at him " Why the hell are we having this conversation .... I don't do that ... right! NO!... that's what you think? .... That I sleep with more than one person .. that I play them off against each other.. NO!! I don't do that ... that's you, that's your ego thinks that!! ... I have to go!" 

She gets up trying to find her underwear. She has this immense need to cry right now but she's not going to let him see her so she needs to leave.

"So, what .. no one makes it to a second time .. is that how you deal with it ?" he's annoyed now he feels like she's hiding things from him "Look Ellis..." he sighs " I don't know .. I don't know what you do here .. I just .. I just wanna know if you're seeing anyone else... I mean you and Wes.. what's that about?....You sure as hell seem more than friends .. do I have to compete with him"?

She laughs "Is that what this is about... Wes?.. Oh my god! ...You so have that totally wrong... we're friends.. .yes we have occasionally fucked... but that's not happened in a long time...Wes is ... he's my friend... him and Lucas, the were my everything ... like you have with Bravo...right, that's us.. that's not this! " she laughs "Are you jealous... of Wes?... Because.....Look, there's no one you need to be jealous of the people I've been with .. you don't need to worry okay!"

She sits back on the bed she can see what this is this is Jason .. yes, Jason is weirdly insecure. She never imagined it not with his repuation "Jason don't spoil it ..alright.. it is what it is! Don't complicate it!"

"Ellis" he holds her cheek "I want you .. I want to do this again.... . but am I kidding myself that it was special or .. am I just one of a number"?

She's really mad now at his questions as much as she sees why he feels this way it makes her feel dirty and she doesn't like he's asking these questions "Why does it matter so much? Who I have or havent'... I don't get it"

"Just tell me how many people you have seen more than once?"

"What you wanna think you're the only one.. that you're somehow special!"

"No... because I don't think I am all that special, .. I think you do this all the time ...that his means nothing ... I just want the truth!"

She looks away she's so hurt he's asking her this. Doesn't he see this it the things that push her away. Last night was everything she wanted.   
"So, what... you want me to tell you, you were the best? That that was the best night of my life.. will that make you feel better?"

" I don't know ... I just...."

She looks away. She bites her lip hard with frustration "You wanna know really? ..Really?... It will make you feel better!... Okay I'll tell you .." she sighs annoyed "If that will make you feel better if that will make you feel special.. then " she sucks in her tears "God.. I can't believe were doing this!... FIVE, okay!...Five people here I've slept with more than once!"

"Five?!" he frowns that wasn't what he was expecting, truth is he was expecting much more and his face shows it ... "I....that's not what... the rumours" h

"Oh, don't look like that .." she wipes her tears away and shakes her head disgusted by him"Why did you have to do this!"

"Come here ..come here!" he pulls her to him "I'm sorry I .... I shouldn't ...I don't know I just ... I needed to ask "

"Why do you do this to me?.. hmmm... Do you get off on making me feel like dirt ... You thought was some slut that sex doesn't mean anything to right? .. and yeah sometimes I stupidly do, and they don't mean anything ... but people I see again .. they mean something .. I see them again because I want to...because they like me, and I like them!"

"I'm sorry.. I don't know why I .... " He pulls her in and holds her they lay there, her quietly sobbing "So..... do I make this list?" he laughs

For some reason she suddenly finds it funny and laughs through her tears   
"Well...let's just say that number five slot still isn't secured!" she leans in putting her hand under the sheet and between his legs "but you can work on it!"   
  
He laughs and kisses her head "So now I'm intrigued .. I mean as to who.. is on this selective list?....Who do I have to...."

She shakes her head and laughs "Jason Hayes you are full of your own shit!.. It's not a competition.. If I sleep with you again... it will be because I want to!" she kisses him full on the lips "but you need to be a bit nicer to me first!"

He smiles and puts his lips to hers kissing her with his tongue "So, who?"

"What!? .. Jason! .. We just did this .. did you not listen?.. No .." she frowns

"I still wanna know who! ....Come on! If it doesn't matter then just tell me .. Wes?... Hmmm!... Does Wes make the list .. Yeah, yeah he must!"

She shakes her head and smiles "Yes .. "She laughs and sighs "...yes Wes makes the list... happy now?"

"Okay so ... err mmm who else?"

She thinks, wondering why it seems so important to him to know this, when all she feels is embarrassed. "Jason..... why do you need to?.. Shit!!" she runs he hands through her hair "Okay, okay you wanna know?...You think it'll make you feel more secure..... make you feel the big man? .. Then fine!.... err mm ...."   
She pauses a moment she has no idea why she is even playing along with this when really she should get up and walk out, but for some reason it feels kind of good to let it all go, to finally be honest with someone "Maxwell!"

"Maxwell?... Maxwell Bennett? ... Commander Bennett!.... Jeez!... Okay sure" he frowns "Yeah well .. I get that, so .. two more.... Who else means something to you?"

She shakes her head this time she lets out a long sigh this one is more difficult. She swallows hard and sighs again, still unsure if it's right to tell him. Somehow it feels like a weirdly intimate thing to be telling him.. things no one else, except Wes, knows why would he want to know it makes no sense_. _She's not ashamed to tell him but she does wonder if it might change things_  
"Phewwww!_ .. Ryan Sharpe" she sighs again

Jason frowns for a minute wondering why the name sounds familiar. He stares at her while he tries to think "Wait!..... Sharpe......Group Captain Sharpe.. the British guy?...... _ahhhh_!...so that's why he was there the other night ... when you came back..."

"No!... No,NO!.. He was there because he's in charge of the British section and they lost people .. nothing to do with me"  
Though she admits to herself that might be a slight lie as she thinks he was probably also there to check she was okay.   
  
"So how the hell did that happen?" Jason frowns it's not a combination of people he can see getting intimate.

She laughs "Don't ask!"

"But he meant something right... I can see it... he was more than just... "

"No!.. No, it's done! ..I don't know maybe for a while... who knows.... Him and his wife are giving it another go now so....." she shrugs

"Wow!... Okay... Wow!" he laughs "That's....a serious cake eater there...... But you liked him right?"

"Jason!!....." she frowns still wondering if it's right to tell him these things will he actually be able to handle it or is it better he knows and doesn't keep wondering as sometimes not knowing is worse   
"I don't sleep with people I don't like......look, you're the one asked .. this is your stupid game not mine... I'm not playing anymore!"

"No! sorry ... one more.. Who's the last one?"

"Oh ...he's nothing .. he's not here anymore ......he was only here on a short deployment .. it was a quick fling shouldn't have even really happened just ... it was what it was, and he was gone.. I never even heard from him again" she sighs "Look I need to go .. I need shower"

"Oh no! .. No, you're not going yet!" He puts his hands between her legs and takes her panties from her hand " No!...See, I need to make sure I'm secured on that list, first!"

She laughs "Really? ..Well you will have to wait... we we don't have time for this now!"

"Oh, we do!" he smiles as he pulls her to sitting on top of him putting his hands on her hips as he guides her down. "We have as long as it takes!"


	17. Baxter, my office. Now!

"Jason...stop!..." she laughs as he kisses her yet again ".. I need to go!"  
He keeps hold of the open door closing it every time she tries to leave, kissing her and pulling her back to him time and again.  
She laughs and looks at her watch "It's nearly five... need to go!.. People are starting to get up!"

He smiles "I know... but... you are so goddamn ..._mmmm_! I just wanna keep you here!" his hand on her cheek, holding her lips to his lips.

"Jason... come on!...Look, we can't risk getting caught!" she sighs and leans back in as he tempts her to kiss him again. She doesn't really want to leave because she knows that sneaked moments are all it's going to be now "Jason, stop!... I _do_ have to go!" he pulls a sad face"Will I see you later?"

"Yeah, I'll swing by and check on you, after briefing....Come here!"he wraps his arms round her hips, putting his hands on the curve of her butt, holding her to him.

"You're still gonna be here later?" she frowns knowing at anytime without a word he could be gone.

He shrugs "Look.. I don't know .. I'd guess but,... after everything it's all up in the air.... I just don't know" he sighs with a longing as he looks at her "I guess there'll be something, but.. I'll come find ya before we leave!"

"Mm hmm!" She nods and sighs, she leans to his chest as he holds her. She can hear his heart beating against her ear. It feels nice, comfort she needs. Then she gives a devilish smiles as she playfully has her hands on the groin of his shorts. She smiles looking him in the eyes as she teases and massages him to hardness again.

"Oh no!....No,don't do that! ... You cannot leave me like this .. Ellis.. you are so bad!"

"oh so sorry... I have to go!" she bites her lip, still trying to tempt him with her smile "but if you're here... I promise ..I'll sort it out later!"  
  
"Now that ... I'm holding you to!" as they kiss again, absorbed in each other, the door barges open and Sonny puts his head round.  
  
"What the hell! .. sorry .Shit!... Sorry my bad...I'll go!" He closes his eyes and walks out, back down the steps, smiling to himself as he stands and waits for Jason.

She smiles, embarrassed, as she leans on Jason's shoulder "I really need to go!"

"Yeah!...Looks like me too!"

"Morning Sonny!" she smiles.  
He nods to acknowledge her, struggling to hold back the curled wry smile at the corner of his mouth "Morning Ellis!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

As she gets back to her bunk there's a white towel on the steps which she picks up  
"What the fuck?!" she frowns as she looks at it not remembering leaving it there "Ohhh!" she laughs "Mandy!. You dirty .. oh my god!"  
  
She bites her lip wondering and anticipating the scene she might encounter as she quietly opens the door. She smiles as she makes out the tall body squashed into Mandy's bunk beside her.  
"Oh well I guess that's where Wes went" she watches them, wrapped in each other's arms, it makes her think back to her and Jason, only hours ago.  
  
The fact she's missing him already takes her by surprise as she quietly whispers "Wes.." she frowns as he doesn't move, so she calls him more loudly this time "Wes!"

"Hmmmm! Ellis ... go away!"

"Wes!... You need to wake up!"

"What?.. What time is it?"

"It's gone five ..Wes!..... Come on, you can't be found here.... you need to go!"

"Hmmm!.... Yeah, yeah okay" he stretches his long naked body and yawns "Five more minutes!"

"WES!... Wake the fuck up!...You need to go!" she's agitated now at his refusal to move "Come on, we can't afford any more trouble!"

Mandy turns over and Ellis can see she's also naked and as she opens her eyes and sees Ellis embarrassed she covers herself with the sheet. Wes is less of a prude and stands up naked to grabs his clothes from the tangled pile on the floor.

"You going?" Mandy looks round as Ellis smiles at her. He leans in and gives her a passionate kiss; it almost makes Ellis jealous, watching the tenderness with which he gives it.  
He looks round at Ellis, watching her watching them "Yeah I am ....unless..." he smiles "...you ladies wanna...you know..I got plenty of time for that!"

Ellis shakes her head "Wes!!...Just go!"

"Well if you're sure?..." he leans and kisses Mandy again "I'll see ya later!"  
Mandy kisses him back and says her goodbyes

"I'll see you in a while" Ellis nods to him as he stumbles out the door. Ellis turns back to Mandy and smiles "Well.... at least you remembered the towel code.....You know you surprise me Mandy Ellis, I didn't think you had it in you!" she laughs "But Wes does have a certain charm!"

"Yeah well.... you know! .. Anyway, where were you, Hmm?" They both smile as Ellis sits down in the bed next to her. She's quietly lets out a soft sigh, thinking about Jason, Lucas, everything that's happened.  
Mandy looks at her taking Ellis's hand in hers "You okay?"

"Yeah kind of!" she sighs again "I...I just ...I'll be fine, don't worry!"

"Come here" Mandy sits up, then she takes Ellis, and herself by surprise, as she wraps her arms around her "You know I'm not a hugger ...so you tell anyone about this.... and I will kill you!"  
Ellis laughs as she leans on Mandy's shoulder and they just sit there in quiet reflection.

"Thanks!" she lets out a sigh releasing her tension"So how'd it go with Wes?"

"Err mm yeah.... Well he didn't disappoint!" Mandy smiles

"Mandy can I ask you something....do you know anything.. about Lucas?....I mean about what happened?"

Mandy shakes her head "I'm sorry..... you know...even if I did I can't tell you!" she leans her head against her shoulder "Look we are working on some leads okay .. we will get payback.. I promise!"

Ellis starts to cry "Sorry!" she wipes her tears from her cheeks "Mandy, I just want him back, so much! It hurts so bad!"

"I know .....and we're working on bringing them home .. Look I gotta get dressed we've got a briefing first thing!"  
She gets up and starts packing her laptop in her bag and sorting her clothes "Oh and Ellis .....that reference you asked me for the other day ... for those applications .. I will write them... if that's what you still want?"

"Really?" she smiles "Yeah err mm.... I'll think about that ... I just want to get my head round all this stuff first"

"Yeah sure.. just let me know when you're ready!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Oh Wes, this is so boring!"

"Ellis let's just get it done!" Wes frowns. He's trying to keep her busy, he's more worried about her than he lets on. "Stop whining!" he looks at her as she sits there staring into nowhere "What the fuck is wrong with you? I thought you got what you wanted last night? ... but now you're still whining!... What wasn't he up to standard?" he laughs "You know, I knew he'd never live up to expectation!"

"Wes stop it! ... Actually, he was great ... it was great!.. Just..."

"Okay well if everything was so great then stop whining and tell me what's in that box?"

The door to the stores open. For a moment Ellis heart skips a beat as she hopes it might be Jason, her excited feeling subsides when she sees it's just Maxwell.  
  
"Baxter! ... My office!... Now!" and then as quickly as he was there, he's gone.

"Oh jeez!... What the hell does he want?"  
  
Wes looks up as Maxwell disappears back out the door "What have you done now?..... Ellis did anyone see you last night?"

"No.... No, I don't think so.. only Sonny.. I mean I can't think of anything .. err mm.. I don't know. Maybe it's about Lucas?" she frowns.  
She's worried now trying to imagine what he wants. It's been a long time since Maxwell has demanded to see her in his office. She knows it won't be for those reasons, well at least she hopes not.

"Well it can't be good!..... You better get your ass in there!"

She throws the clipboard down "Fuck!!" She swallows hard and looks at Wes "I don't need this right now!"

"Hey....maybe it's your lucky day and he wants to play the Commander game!" he winks

She glares at him giving him the only reply she can muster, her middle finger.

"Ellis"

"What?"

"Did Jason wanna play games last night ?" he laughs

"Wes.. just shut the fuck up! You're not funny!"

When she doesn't laugh or come back with some wit like remark like the normal Ellis would it rings his worry alarm bells "Hey are you really okay?...What happened with Jason?"

"Nothing it was fine?".

"You don't look fine! You would tell me if he's being an ass again"

"No, it was great!" she smiles at him "Really, _really_ great!" she sighs "Just .."

"Just what?" he frowns staring at her "Oh god please,Ellis!... Look at me and tell me you're not falling for him!"

"No!...No, of course not.... he's only here for a few more weeks!.....No it's not like that!"

"But you like him...I can see it!.. What the hell is it with you and these ego driven assholes?"

"Wes... he's not like that!"

"Oh right?....No .. no, he's not like that!...Sure thing.. you got it!"

"Wes...do you have a problem with this?... With me and Jason because if you do..then tell me!" she's not seen this tone he has directed at her for a long time, but she'll let it go as she knows he's hurting about Lucas.

"No, No problem .. I'm okay.. it's all good ... You carry on!"

She sighs "Wes whatever your problem is you need to get over it, before I come back from Bennett's office.. talking of which .." she sighs"... I better go!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"COME!" Bennett looks up from his desk seeing her in the doorway"Baxter, come in"

"Sir!" she looks around the small office _Oh shit! _she takes a deep breath and doesn't let it out.  
Commander Blackburn is standing by the desk, next to Maxwell, looking in some folders, but its the sight of Group Captain Sharpe sitting in the chair behind the desk that stops her breath. _  
Shit, shit what the hell's going on! _

"I've got news for you"

_Shit.._ she prepares herself for the worst "Is this about Lucas, Sir?"

"No! ....Sorry, no! Not about that, but... I am giving you a chance to prove yourself! Something to keep you busy and focused for a while "

"Sorry Sir, I don't understand"

He coughs to clear his throat. Having a high-ranking officer like Sharpe in his office is making him nervous, Ellis can tell. Under normal circumstances she would have teased him, played on his weakness but not today, today she doesn't have it in her.  
"Special OPs need a logistics operator to run TACLOG and weapons req. for the deployment duration, including the coming joint ops related to yesterdays incident. The special projects squadron of the SAS is on route as we speak"

She frowns "Sir . I don't understand, what that has this got to do with me?"

"Your name has been recommended" he coughs and looks at Captain Sharpe, and I have agreed to assign you to Commander Blackburn's authority ...Baxter this goes to plan. I will look at the applications you requested!"

"Sir ... Thank you sir!" She's still confused as she looks round at Blackburn and Sharpe _  
What the hell's going on? _

"Don't thank me ..I didn't sign off on this...Looks like you came to someones attention!" his nerves get the better of him and he coughs again."and I'm happy to recommended you for the post!"

Eric looks at her "If you wanna report to my office 1100 and I'll run through this mornings briefing for today's op ....I've instructed Bravo to you come to personally for any requests... is that okay? And you need to understand anything you hear from now on is regarded as classified..Do you understand that?" She nods she's still confused "Your security clearance has been authorised"

"Sure... err mm... Yes.... Sir... thank you!"

Captain Sharpe now gets to his feet " And that goes for Special Projects squadron, once they're on the ground, they will deal with you directly for any operational requirements they have. We will be running some rapid response operations with very little notice......These are joint liaison operations and therefore will have more complicated logistical requirements, so you will need to be on your game .. are you going to be able to cope with that after what happened to Private Gunnel?"

"Sir, yes sir..I'm happy to assist in anyway if it helps bring Lucas .. I mean, Private Gunnel home" she looks at Sharpe and frowns. She's wondering if he is behind this and if so why.

"Alright... well you will report to Commander Blackburn at 1100 as requested" Maxwell looks at his watch "You're dismissed"

o-o-o-o-o-o

She sighs as she leaves the office she's excited about the post, but apprehensive. She also knows this puts more pressure on her chances of alone time with Jason.  
  
As she stands in the corridor having a moment getting her head straight Sharpe leaves the office closing the door.

He stands looking at her, her looking at him.  
She smiles. He always looks so smartly dressed his uniform it's always so perfect and he smells divine, that's one of the first things about him that got her attention, his smell. Oh how she loved his scent, well that and his accent, his perfect tone, his words, the clean crispness when he spoke. Yeah that could turn her on even when he didn't touch her.

"Ellis"

Sir" she's hesitant to call his real name, unsure if he's speaking in a formal capacity or if they might be overheard but then he looks at her and she answers him "Ryan"

He touches her arm gently "Ellie I'm so sorry about Lucas" he sighs "He really was a nice man, everyone liked him, and I know how close you were so if this is too difficult ....or you need anything, my door is always open"

She nods, she's confused. But the fact he called her Ellie makes her smile. Only he called her that, only because when she first met him he got her name wrong and being the officer he was she didn't want to correct him, so from then on even after, even when he knew her real name, he always , privately, called her Ellie.  
It was nice to hear him say it. It made her feel like he cared, that someone else cared about her feeling.

He steps forward, acutely aware of where they are and he lowers the tone of his voice to a whisper "You know I'm going find a way to make some time for us...... it's difficult in the circumstances, but ...I will work something out"

"Err mmmm.... look Ryan, that can't happen, not anymore ...you know why!"

"I know it's difficult, but...look my wife, she's moving out. Leaving for good this time" he smiles "Seems her Pilates teacher was keeping her entertained while I was away, who knew. I thought that's what you wanted?" he frowns " Look Ellie, I know it can't be exactly how you imagined but something is better than nothing, right?" she steps back away from him "Ellie come on...give me a chance to put it right...just "  
  
The door to the office clicks and Blackburn steps out. He stares at them "Everything okay,Sir?"

"Yes, Commander just giving my reassurances that we will do everything we can to bring our boys home ..." He smiles awkwardly at Ellis then back to Blackburn "Eric can I have a word there's some things we need to discuss!"

"Certainly Sir.... This way!"

  
"Oh... Shit!" she sighs as she rubs her hands over her head.

"You okay?" Maxwell frowns at her from the doorway to his office

"Yeah. Yeah sure!" she smiles "Just taking a minute.. get my head round everything"

"Ellis....don't fuck this up ... you've got yourself in someone's good books ... Do us both a favor and keep it that way!" He turns back into his office and closes the door.


	18. Still looking good Ellis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ***Warning*** Adult themed Chapter in parts

"Come in..." She frowns wondering who it is knocking on the door. Then she smiles as he enters. _Jason. _He's just the sight she needs for her sore, tired, tearful eyes.   
"Hey" she beams this smile at him 

"Hey....you okay?" His face frowns as he sees her sitting there, he's not not sure if she's been crying, but she certainly looks as if she has.

"Yeah!" she nods "I'm good... just taking a few minutes out...you know.. after everything!" she smiles "Did you want something?"

Jason smiles "You alone?"

She nods again and he enters her room and shuts the door "I ....just err mmm.... thought you know!"

She smiles and shakes her head "Nope.... No, I don't know, _you know_, what ?..but err...." she sighs "...I'm glad you're here... because we need to talk" She stands up and places the soda in her hand on the table.

"_Talk?"_ he frowns " You really wanna_ talk?_ ......Cos, like I've literally got thirty minutes before I gotta leave.. so..... I figured you might wanna....." he grabs her hips "...sort that problem out before I go!... You know the one you caused this morning?!"

She smiles as she looks at his face "Thirty minutes, hmmmm?... and that's all you've got?" she coughs "Look Jason, that's what I need to talk about ... I think we....you know, we might need to cool it a bit"

"Cool it?...... Why" he furrows his forehead he's not sure why she's saying this "But we only just got started!"  
He pulls her closer, his hands around her, fondling her butt as he grinds his groin against hers. It makes her smile and relax a little to feel his hardened want through his pants.   
It also gives her twinges of excitement between her legs as he kisses her neck, lifting her vest top and pushing her bra up. His hands all over her searching for the small peaking button on front of her chest. "Mmmmmm!" he sighs as he stands back looking at the flesh he just exposed "oh god you are.. mmmm!" he lets out a long sigh.

"Jason!" she's trying to talk to him but what he's doing is distracting her "Stop!..I'm serious... I need to talk to you! ... They've, ...assigned me to Bravo!"   
She looks at him as he stops but he doesn't move his hand from where it is on her breast and so she brushes him away, pulling her top back down for a moment.   
"They want me to err mm ... run TACLOG for the duration of your deployment ... you have some rapid response ops coming up in the next couple days?! .. Jason .....are they something to do with Lucas and what happened?"

He shrugs "I don't now!" he's not really listening he's pulling at the buckle on her pants and undoing her buttons "I'm sure we'll find out later... but for now, ...." He smiles as he returns his hand under her T shirt. "all I'm interested in... is sorting my problem!" She smiles as he unbuckles his own pants belt.

She tries to pull away from his grasp "Yeah well... I just wanted to warn you.....that we need to be more careful ...make sure no one knows about us!.....Jason are you even listening?"

"Okay! .... _Carefu_l!" he starts to tug at her khaki pants, pulling them downward "I can do careful!....In fact we can practice right now!" he smiles

"Practice?" she frowns

"You know being _careful_ " he undoes his own pants and drops them down, as he pulls at the lace waistband on her panties.

"Jason, ...you know it might be nice if you kissed me first?...Rather than....you know going straight in!"

"Mmm!....Yeah you may have a point!" he pulls his shorts down then leans in and kisses her. She smiles.   
She can feel the firmness of what was contained in his pants pressing against her, as she kisses him back.   
"Hmmmm!" she closes her eyes, running her delicate hand over his firm length "Mmm!....Seems you do have a bit of problem there, Master Chief!"

"Well isn't that what you're here for now ... to help me with my problems?"

"Yeah .. I'm not sure this is on my job spec!"

"Well.... I'm gonna add it on!" he has his hands down the front of her panties and he's rubbing the small button that gives her so much pleasure, she's wet with her want for him now.

"Hmmm!...Seems someone else has got a bit of a problem!"

She smiles and her cheeks flush with color as she leans herself back, her hands resting on the edge of the table to hold her steady, as he continues to rub at her under the lace.  
"Ohhhhhh!..... Huh!.... Jeez!" she shivers as she lets out a deep sigh, sucking the air through her gritted teeth before putting her hand round his head, pulling him to her lips. She's kissing him and wanting him again. Everything else now forgotten.

"Ohhhh... Ellis!... Jeez....I'm...I'm not gonna ... . oh shit!"   
Jason's so excited. Completely on the edge of pleasure. He hasn't stopped thinking about doing this all morning and apart from the fact he's on a time limit, nothings going to stop him taking her, he wants her that much.

"Ohhhh!!" she gasps again as he rubs more firmly and faster. Circular motions around and in her warmth "Ohhhhh! Huh.... huh!!! ...Oh God!" She can feel her senses starting to peak! "Oh, oh!!!!... oh yeah!!!.... Jason don't stop. Just....Oh I'm gonna come... oh yeah!" she closes her eyes "Oh Jason.. yes!!!"   
She's on the edge now as he holds her T shirt up baring her flesh, as the fabric annoyingly gets in the way she pulls it over her head.  
  
He's rapidly edging to his peak and pulls the front of her bra down, his mouth groping at her nipple, taking it kissing and sucking giving himself so much pleasure. There's an urgency to the way he's pleasuring her, and she can feel the impatience of his touch. She knows and feels how much he wants her.  
  
"Ohhh!!!!" she's lost in endless loop of moans , groans and Oh's. Leaning back as he continues rubbing small circular motions round and round until her head starts to cloud and she finally loses control, her legs shake, her nipples peak and she loses herself to the feeling, gripping his arm to steady herself.   
Then as he feels her peak he can't hold and he flips her around pinning her chest and head on the table with his hand, her hips higher in the air this way and takes her, no waiting ,he just thrusts hard.

"Oh!!!!" She gasps as he enters her. It's hard, fast, wanting, filling all of her with each stroke of his body "Oh God....Jason!! .....Oh yeah!" She gasps as her words hardly able to come out.   
The table rocks and it makes her smile, trying to hold herself still, as he pounds at her from behind. She can feel him inside her and from the frustrated energy coming from him he's not going to take long.

"Ohhhh!!!!!.. God Ellis!!! I'm gonna... oh jeez..shit!!!" he closes his eyes. It's over as he fills her with his warm load deep inside "Sorry!!!.....Huh!" He breaths deep and quicker now as he gently rubs his hand on her back, over her waist holding her in place while he enjoys the last restful moments "I'm sorry.... Shit!!!"   
  
She smiles. Yes, it was quick, but it was nice. She liked it like that sometimes, just a quick, wanton fuck. Oh yes she'd enjoyed it. He'd enjoyed it. So there wasn't a problem that it didn't last long.

"I'm sorry!" he turns her around pulling her to him. He gives her this long lingering kiss, somehow he's trying to counter the fastness of the fuck by taking his time with this slow, needy touch on her lips.

"It's fine!" she smiles running her hand round his face "Don't worry. It was good!"   
She wraps her arms round him, just holding, taking in his scent, absorbing the warmth from his body "You know, it's kinda nice you wanted me that much!" she leans up and kisses him again.

"Wanted you? .. Jeez ... you don't know how much!.... I've wanted you all morning, I got to the point I couldn't think straight!" 

She smiles. He kisses her again, then he does annoy her. He annoys her because he looks at his watch. She stands there holding him, enjoying the after-sex closeness and _he looks at his damn watch!_ She pushes his hand down.

"Sorry!" he kisses her brushing her hair back "I am sorry...it's just I do have to go!" He finishes buckling his pants up while she straightens her clothes "So you gonna take this position with BRAVO... the logistics op?"

She nods "I think so.... I mean yeah!... It's not something I've not done before.. Actually, it's what I use to do in a similar role" she sighs

"You did?" Jason frowns finding out new things about is always intriguing it makes her become more real "So how come you don't now? I mean what you do is fine but, .. is it not a step backward?"

"Lots of things .. circumstances.. you know .. sometimes things get complicated you have to take a step sideways" she sighs changing the subject "So, you know how long you're gonna be?.... This op today"

"No .. look err.. not long I don't think ... lyou gonna find out anyway, .. It's just a recon op" he sighs looking her in the eyes "Locals are getting restless...after the explosion, and they won't let the extraction teams get in to retrieve the bodies so.. we're going in to find out whats going on... couple hours tops"

"You gonna bring Lucas home?"

"Not today!" he can see the tears well in her eyes "We will!..... I promise you .. we're gonna bring him back!"

She swallows the knotted emotion in her throat and kisses him "Guess you better go, then!"

He picks her T- shirt up from the floor, handing it to her, brushing the skin on her arm gently. He can see the emotions still welling in her eyes as he holds her in his arms "Come here!" he runs his hands over and down her bare back, over and round her butt "Mmmm!...You know I can't wait to get back...then I'm just gonna hold you all night!"

She smile as she imagines it, thinking how nice that will be, thinking how much she actually wants that "I can't wait!" she kisses him slowly running her hands over his face, through his hair just watching his eyes looking at her. For once in a long time she has to admit she feels happy. 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hey!" she smiles at Wes  
She's sat on the crates in the morning sunlight watching the helicopters coming and going.

"Hey, where have you been?" he frowns questioning her "Is everything okay?"

She nods towards the helo that lifts off. They can make out Clay and Brock, with the dog, sitting on the edge of the open helo doorway."Is that Bravo?" Wes frowns

"Yeah!" She nods, with a tinge of sadness. For some reason after this morning hurried session, and though she'd never admit it, she's missing Jason already.

"They gonna be away long, do you know?"

"No.. not long ..though I don't know exactly!"

  
"Hey, you two!...So, what's happenin'"

They turn to see Miller with his clipboard as they both nod to acknowledge him "So... Ellis...I hear you got a new job?"

She frowns at him, awkwardly wondering how he knows. That and the fact she hasn't had a chance to tell Wes yet.  
He can see she's annoyed he's mentioned it by the look on her face "Oh I only know cos I've been asked to give Wes a hand ... to cover your role .. while your unavailable!"

"Oh, right ... yeah I guess!"  
  
Wes looks at her "New job...why what's going on?"

"Yeah, sorry... I hadn't had time to tell you! .. They offered me tactical logistics for BRAVO for their deployment"

"Hey... that's great!" he kisses the top of her head " That's what you wanted!"

"Yeah....fuck knows who you're blowing to get that job, Ellis" He laughs " But I'd keep doing it if I was you .....Hey you do it well enough you might get another promotion!"

Her face fills with these angry furrow lines " What the hell do you mean?" she snaps

"Woah!! Calm down!.... Nothing...jeez.. someone's a little touchy.. it was just a joke" he frowns "Jesus Ellis, you where'd you leave your sense of humor today?"

"Yeah well ... sorry.. I just don't find it funny!"

Wes looks at her, he's concerned normally it would be something she'd laugh at so somethings not right with her. He puts it down to her bottling up her feelings about Lucas as she'd not even mentioned him much yet   
"Yeah shut the fuck up Miller" Wes slaps him with the clipboard he has in his hand "She's just good at her job..... nothing to do with anything else...and for your information, if you remember she has done it before!"

Miller calms, a worried look comes over him. There's no way he wants any trouble from Wes "Yeah, yeah I know .. Look I am sorry.. I know, it's tough with everything... Sorry my bad!" he smiles, and Ellis smiles back. 

There's a whump, whump, whump of rota blades as another helo comes into land. As they watch it set down they shade their eyes from the sun and the dust in the wind it kicks up. 

Ellis frowns as he watches the personnel disembark "What's that all about?"   
If there's one thing Ellis knows it's that if you want to find anything out you need to ask Miller, he has eyes and ears everywhere.  
  
He takes a look at his clip board checking the call signs on this flight manifest " Look...err mm I shouldn't really say anything ....but, considering your new role and all,..... it's Special projects unit ... You know British .... S.A.S!" he looks round furtively making sure he's not being overheard "I thought you'd know that though?"

Wes looks at her and her back at him "No! ... I didn't know.. . I mean perhaps I did hear something mentioned ... What are they doing here?"

Miller shrug's "I have no idea! ..but if I had to take a guess..... it's something to do with the explosion... you know the four British guys! .. They're saying...." he looks around again. He coughs "...they're sayin' that they not letting regulars recover the bodies and that maybe special ops are going in!"

"Is that where BRAVO have gone ... to get the bodies...but Jason said..." she stops in her sentence realising whose company she's in.   
  
Wes looks at her " Something wrong?"

"No! .. No, it's okay .. I don't know what's going on!.. Think it must be the joint ops thing..." she looks at her watch 1045 "Shit! .. I need to go!"

Hey Ellis, I'll catch you later ...We'll get some late lunch ..you can tell me all about it?"   
  
She nods as she hurries away. Wes looks at the helo unloading. He takes a deep breath and sighs "I'll see you back at stores, Miller!"

"Sure thing!" 

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She's filling her lunch tray. Well actually she's not, she's actually just standing at the counter staring into space thinking. There's a voice in the background, she can hear it but she's not listening. Someone telling her to hurry, but really its just a back ground noise

"Hey Ellis! .... Come on...hurry the fuck up!....You know some of us want to eat today!" there's a big collective sigh from the people behind   
"Jeez what the hell's wrong with you?" He snaps his fingers " Hey!... You even awake?" he looks round laughing to the other guys as she still stands there in a dream like daze.

"Hey .. _YOU!_ Shut the hell up!" Wes is now over him, pushing him back "Oh come on Wes .. what the hell is she doin'?...She's been stood there ten minutes now" 

Wes sighs "Hey Ellis.. you okay?"

"What?" she frowns as she comes back to reality " Wes? .. err sure... I umm!...I just..."

"Come over here" he leads her away from the counter and the other guys "I'll get you some food in a second...you need to eat.. Did you eat anything today?" he continues to frown at her as she vaguely looks at him "Did it go alright .. this morning?"

"Yeah .... yeah fine!" she snaps out of her daze "Sorry I err mmm .. Lucas... I was just thinking ... it's his favourite today!" she smiles 

Wes sighs he puts his arm round her neck and kisses the top of her head, as she holds him round the waist "You're okay though?"

"Mmm hmmm! Yeah .. yeah I'm okay!" she looks round she can see the canteen all whispers and stares, she guesses they're talking about her.

"Hey .....just ignore those freaks .. You sure you're okay?" Wes frowns he's really worried now

"Mmmm Yeah!"

He wraps his arms round her "Right, wait there...... I'll get you some food .. you want some OJ with that?"

"Yeah that be good!"  
She takes a deep breath and goes back inside her head, she's thinking about Lucas and.. she's thinking about Jason   
"Arrrghhh!" She gives a squeal as someone grabs her waist and gently squeezes it.

She turns around excited, thinking it's going to be Jason but her face drops to the floor when it isn't   
"Damien!! " she takes a deep breath "err.. What the hell! What you doing here?"

"Well.... I thought I would come and say hello to my favourite supplies person" he smiles this cheeky, cute grin "Shortbread!" he hands her a box "I hope it's still your favourite" he frowns as she doesn't respond. "oh you're not still upset are you? "

"You know you can't be here Damien... I mean ....the British has a canteen of their own!"

"Sure, I can .. I can be wherever I want! You know we get special privileges right?" he smiles "Mmmmm!... I have got to say, you are still looking good Ellis.. I'm only here for a short duration but..... maybe we can pick up where we left off?"

"Damien go away! You can't be here .. You need to stay away from me! You know that!"

"HEY!!....Hey _You_.... get the hell away from her!!!" Wes pushes between them and him and Damien go eye to eyes.

"Oh!... I see you still have your yappy little show dog... You got any new tricks you can show me?" he laughs. Making Wes seeth with anger "You know I let you off last time.. under the circumstances I won't be so gracious again!"

" I said get the fuck away from her!!" Wes glares at him "Because I won't stop this time!" Wes's anger is fully showing in his face. He's nose to nose with Damien.   
  
Ellis tries to stand between them, trying to calm Wes down "Wes calm down .. not here! Don't do this Wes ..please!" she looks at Damien who's just smiling at Wes "And you _NEED_ to leave!"

Damien smiles "Sure thing sweetness...you know I'll do anything you say." he laughs again "I'll be seeing you later!" he stares at Wes

Wes can't contain it as Damien continues smiling at him gloating, and he pulls his fist back to take a swing, just as he lets go Clay's hand catches is arm stopping him. They've literally just arrived back. Him and Sonny are in the canteen getting food when they witness this little altercation "Wes what the hell's going on?" Clay frowns at Damien then looks at Wes and Ellis for an explanation. 

"Oh! .. Oh I see you have a little play mate now!...Ruff!!! " he makes a snapping motion and dog sound. He laughs looking Clay up and down "Good to see you Ellis ... I'll catch up with you later! Leave your two lovers here to play with each other" he nods at Wes before he walks away

Clay looks at Wes "What the hell's that all about?"  
  
"Nothing!" Wes shakes Clay's grip loose "You know what I'm not hungry now!" he sighs " I need some air!"   
Ellis nods as she puts her hands on his chest "Don't .. Ellis .. not now!"   
  
She swallows hard as she wipes a tear off her cheek. Her hands are shaking "Fuck!" she closes her eyes trying to compose herself. She feels her whole body shake as he looks around checking who's watching.

"What's going on?" Sonny frowns questioning her   
  
Clay shakes his head "I don't know .. Who the hell is that asshole?"

"No one! .. He doesn't matter!" Ellis sighs. Realizing Clay and Sonny won't accept that she answers " Him and Wes had a run in once before .. it's nothing, just ancient history!"  
  
Clay and Sonny still don't accept that as a proper explanation and they frown at each other   
  
"Sorry guys... I need to go!.... but good to see you're you both back safe" she tries to smile "I'll speak to you later!"


	19. I will find out!

Wes is sat, by himself, on a bench at the large wooden table in the outside rest area. He's staring into space, pulling the label off, his almost empty beer bottle.  
His mind isn't here at the base, it's far away, thinking about what's happening in his life, about Lucas and his concerns for Ellis. Wondering where she's at emotionally and it makes him feel kind of down. But then that might be because he's had more than his quota of beer.

He looks around, over his shoulder, sneering and trying to curb his temper. His teeth grinding in anger as he watches the joking and laughing continuing at the table in the far corner where Jason is sat with Commander Blackburn and _ Damien Scott, the arrogant ass from the Special air service_.  
Wes sighs. Even the thought of him sends anger vibes through Wes's flesh, and him sitting with Jason makes him want to go over and punch him in the face. He knows he can't.  
_What the hell is Jason doing sitting with him? Why the hell doesn't he go hang out at the British side of the base?_  
But then Damien did always think he was some sort of superstar. With his good looks, stupid accent and Special Forces pass, meaning he thinks, he can go and do anything and .._get away with whatever the hell he likes! _  
He sighs again "He's such a jackass... I just wanna punch the dumb fuc...."

He stops as Clay straddles the bench and sits down opposite him "Who's a Jackass?" Clay hands Wes the bottle of Budweiser  
"Cheers!" Wes nods to acknowledge him "Oh it doesn't matter; just ignore me I'm having a moment"

"You okay?" Clay frowns "What's been going on? Something to do with that guy from earlier?" Clay continues with the questions as Sonny joins them sitting himself next to Wes at the table.

  
Wes nods and smiles acknowledging Sonny "Oh it's just been a tough week!" he sighs again and drinks his beer down "Cheers!"

"Don't look like nothin." Sonny frowns "So, who's rattled your cage?" He looks round and seeing Jason, he raises his beer to acknowledge he's seen him "That guy?... So, what's his problem well apart from the way he talks?"

Wes laughs "Oh, I don't know! Guess he's just one if those people who just pisses you off by just by being alive! Ignore him.. he's an ass!"

"So, who is he?" Clay frowns. He turns watching the tall dark-haired guy knocking back a beer laughing and joking, with Jason and Blackburn.

Wes shrugs and carries on drinking his beer trying to avoid answering

"So..." Sonny's curious "...You gonna tell us who he is?"  
  
  
Wes sighs. He would say no one, but he guesses that won't wash. He sighs a longer deeper breath as he tips his beer back again "Him...he's.. .. " Wes puts on an accent mimicking him "Sargent Major Damien Scott!" he laughs "Special air services, command! They're a special rapid deployment unit!" Wes shakes the remaining beer in the bottle and necks it back.

"What?! So, what the hell's he doing with Jason and Blackburn?" He looks at Ray who's now sitting down on the bench between Sonny and Clay "This something to do with us?" Sonny looks at Ray as he joins them.

Ray shrugs "I don't know! .. Why.. what's going down?"

"Over there!" Sonny points "You any idea what's going on? What's Jason and Blackburn gotta do with the Special air service?"

Ray shakes his head "I have no idea, Jason's not said anything to me. I don't know, brother! I'm sure he'll tell us if we need to know!"

"Well ... they seem to be getting on pretty well!"

"Yeah well Jason wouldn't, not if he knew the truth about what an ass he really is!"

"So, what's he done that's so bad?" The frown on Clay's face showing his concern for Wes  


"Oh Hey... Miss Mandy! You wanna beer?" Sonny smiles as she comes past their table. The look on her face makes him concerned and he raises his eyebrows as he picks his own bottle up.  
  
"Ummmm!.." she smiles at Wes and her cheeks flush ".. Sorry I...err... I can't.. I have to .. " she fumbles her words as she points towards Jason's table ".. There's something... I need to speak with ...."  
  
Sonny smiles watching the cagey, edgey look on her face "What's going down?" He's suspicious now

Mandy frowns and shakes her head "Nothing, I just need a word with Eric and Jason!" Wes smiles at her again and she gives him a tension filled smile back, quickly looking away in case anyone notices "I'm sorry, I really do have to go, I have some things to take care of!"  


Wes looks away and sighs a deep breath as Clay frowns at him "There somethin' going on?"

Wes shakes his head "Not that I know of!" he continues drinking his beer turning to look behind him again  
"Oh come on Wes...spill! What's going on here, you can tell us! Look, I know you liked her but seriously did something happen?" Clay frowns

Wes laughs he can't help it as he looks away feeling smug "Now that would be tellin'!" he smiles at Clay

"NO!!!....No! Oh, please tell me you did _NOT!_" Sonny looks around following Mandy towards the table. Watching the way she wiggles with purpose in her long tight skirt "Oh man, don't tell me you did the nasty with the ice queen?"  
He looks at Wes who snorts in his beer at the priceless look on Sonny's face " NO, way man!! No! I don't believe you! Oh God, you did, you dirty dog!"

Wes shrugs "Believe what you want! I'm not saying anything! " His face lights up with a laugh as he gets up to get another beer "Oh and Sonny .... there aint nothing icy about her!" he winks.  
  
"Oh....MY.... GOD!!! No, no you aint tellin' me that, I need details!" They all laugh, and Ray shakes his head.

As Wes brings more beers back to the table where they continue to chat until their conversation comes to an abrupt halt, watching with a collective frown as Mandy, followed by Blackburn, Jason and Damien stride past , leaving without a goodbye, their drinks still standing on the table where they were sitting.

Damien can't resists a small dig at Wes. Smirking at him as he leaves "Wes! It is so nice to see you again!"

Wes looks down and doesn't respond just clutching at his fist under the table "I swear to god... I will kill him!"

"Hey, just calm down alright. So you gonna tell me what the hell did?" Clay frowns he's concerned for his new friend, this doesn't seem like Wes's normal easy going attitude, and it also makes him wonder about this guy Damien.  
  


"Alright... there is definitely something going on!" Sonny's brain is thinking things over and Ray wonders if he might be right considering how purposeful they all looked when they left.  
  
"Jace!" Ray calls him back getting up from his seat and running towards him before he's gone, "You okay brother? There somethin' going on, we should know?"

"I don't know, Ray!" Jason puts his hand on Ray's shoulder "Look,.. err mm...I'll fill you in when I know more, but.... I gotta go!"  
  


Ray shrugs and heads back to the group.   
  
"So?... What the hell's that all about?"

Ray shakes his head "I don't know Sonny, but somethin's up for sure!"

Clay doesn't disagree but for now his attention is focused on Wes. Wondering what problems are going on in his head.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Ellis is in the small office they've given her shared use of. She looks at her watch as she rubs her eyes, they're getting tired.  
She laughs, to herself, as she looks at the time on her watch, _What the hell are you doing Ellis? _  
  
Normally by now she'd be sitting in the evening cool, enjoying a beer and here she is trying to make a good impression, getting ahead with the lists of equipment requisitions and paperwork, plus she does admit, it's keeping her busy, stopping her thinking too much about Lucas and what happened.

She glances up as she hears someone cough in the doorway "Come in....." she frowns stopping mid sentence when she sees who it is "Oh sorry Sir, I didn't see it was you." she stands up "Is there something I can help you with?"

He gestures her to sit, as he continues to stand watching her from the doorway. "You know Ellie, I wondered if there's something I could _help_ you with?"  
He winks and smiles as he checks up and down the office hallway, checking that no one's around before he steps into the office.

"You know Sir, it's ...err mmm..." she swallows awkwardly " ...probably best you don't call me that anymore!" She doesn't hold eye contact with him, choosing instead to look at the paperwork on the desk in front of her.  
She takes a deep breath this is uncomfortable, addressing him in a formal capacity when they're alone. She's never really had to do that. On the rare occasions it happened, it had been in front of other people and so she played it more like a game, but this, one on one, it's much less fun.  
  
"Oh really Ellie, and why is that may I ask?" his cut glass English accent really accentuating his words and tone.

"I'm sorry, Sir, I don't mean to be rude..." she takes another deep breath "..but I'm busy, so did you want something?" She tries so hard to steer the subject back to being more formal and less awkward.

Because she won't look at him he's now standing in front of her, only the desk between them "Ellie, stop with the Sir! There is only yourself and I here. What is going on with you? Why are you being like this?"

"I'm just trying to get finished up, that's all. Just busy!" she smiles quickly but still not letting him catch her gaze, she knows if she looks at his blue eyes she's done for.

"No, I mean what is this. Are you trying to play hard to get?"

She sighs and this time she does look up "Ryan, we can't do this .. _that_.... anymore! You know we can't!" She swallows hard, biting her lip, determined to show her resolution that there is nothing between them now, but it doesn't stop him and he's round standing at the side of her chair, standing close over her shoulder, brushing his fingers along the back of her hand that's resting on the desk.  
  
Continually he makes quick furtive glances to the doorway to make sure no one catches him in this compromising position, that no one interrupts their moment "We can't, and who says we can't? I don't remember saying that this was over!"

She shakes her head "Sir!.... Ryan.." she sighs as she corrects herself "... you know we can't and it was you ...you were the one who ended it, so this is how it has to be! And really, it's best while we're both involved in these joint operations! I just don't think we should have any blurred lines!"

"Okay! Is that what you really want?" He's behind her massaging her shoulders.  
  
She lifts her glasses and rubs her tired eyes and sighs, relaxing slightly, to his firm touch on the tension filled muscles in her neck, hardly daring to admit how _God damn nice that is! _"You know it's not going to happen again...you and me!" She closes her eyes, then she attempts to unclasp his fingers from her neck, brushing his hand away "Please ... Ryan .. don't push this! You know why_ this _can't happen! You know it's over!"

"Over? I'm sorry but since when was this _over_? Ellie, I thought we had an understanding!"  
  


She shakes her head, sighing in disbelief at his nonsense comment "No! You were going back to your wife, that's what you said, that's what you told me. That's why we had to stop!"

He's continues to massage her shoulders, still keeping his eyes and ears for sounds in the outside hallway. He chooses not to answer her comment, instead changing the subject "So, how are you now? I mean after Lucas. I know how close you two were... and the male model _friend_, how is he?"  
  
He never did like Wes, his good looks and the weird relationship him and _Ellie_ had. Even speaking about him brings a tone of dislike and disdain. No he liked Lucas, but he never really did like Wes or the affection him and _Ellie_ shared. He never wanted to imagine him_ fucking her_ even if it was as she insisted, only as friends. But he had to tolerate him, that was a price he had to pay so he could fuck her "How is he coping?"

"Wes is fine!" She sighs and relaxes a little while he continues to massage her shoulders, part of her enjoying it though she'd never admit it to him.  
  
"Ellie, you are so tense! You need something to help you unwind. You know I just might have something to help!" He smiles and she can tell. She can't see him smiling and she doesn't want to, so she closes her eyes, dropping her head as he now runs his hand softly down the back of her neck.

"You need to stop! Anyone could just walk past and see, plus I really have got a lot on. You know, this new job and all." She puts her hand on top of his that he has round her neck, stopping his movement "Ryan.... I _need_ to finish this paperwork!"

"And you will!... _Mmmm!_" he puts his nose to her ear and sniffs her, taking in all of her scent but his eyes don't move from the doorway while he lands gentle butterfly kisses along her neck.  
Then he drops one hand down her body, running it along her arm, over her side then cupping gently but firmly, grasping a hold on her breast. Kneading and massaging it, while pushing his groin against the nape of her neck, so she can feel the bulge in his beige combat camo's growing

She pulls away "Please Ryan,you need to stop!! I told you this can't happen!"  
There had been so many times she'd have loved this. She'd have wanted it. Encouraged it. She'd have gratefully put his hand on her flesh, but now it felt wrong, it felt dirty and she wanted him to stop. Mainly because all she could think about right now was... Jason.  
She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts of him, his voice and his touch but she couldn't and now Ryan, well he was making her feel like.... like a cheat!

He's round the side of her sitting on the desk in front of her pushing her chair back so she's between his legs. He smiles then it turns to a frown as she awkwardly looks away.  
  
"You know Ellie, there was a time you'd have been eager to unzip my trousers ... "  
He smiles as he imagines the times he'd sat like this or in the chair and she had gone down on him with that cherry stained mouth of hers, eager and willing to take the huge risk of them getting caught, that made it even more of a turn on " ...but, now nothing?!" he frowns watching her "Ellie...look at me!"  
  
She glances up, then quickly looks away.   
He can't resist her big doe eyes, willing and wanting them to stare at him "I said look at me!..._Properly!_"

She reluctantly stares back "What?"

"Are you sleeping with someone else?" He frowns

She laughs out loud "No!" she shakes her head rapidly, dismissing him, her frown lines deepen at the lie she's telling "NO! No, nothing like that! Look, please Ryan... I just need to do this paperwork and get finished!"

"And I just need you to....." he coughs as he looks down indicating towards the growing bulge in his pants

"No!! I told you .. that's not happening! You just want what you can't have!"  
  


He pulls her chin up, he's quite rough and firm with his grip "I'll ask again, and don't lie to me! Is someone else shagging you?"  
  
He makes her laugh under her breath _shagging!_ Such a "British" term that he uses. "NO!"

"Oh, you think it's funny? I don't believe you so I want to know ..._WHO!!_"

She shakes her head "And I told you ...NO ONE!!!" she takes a breath "What because I won't suck your dick right now you think I must be getting it from someone else, and not that I just don't want _this _anymore?"

He laughs out loud, a big mocking laugh, then he stops and stares at her, deep inside her "I will find out Ellie, you can be sure of that! And when I do, .. well.... I will be using all the power this rank has.... let me assure you of that! Whoever he is, you better warn him!"  
  
She gulps inside, she knows he means it. He's one of these that the power of his position has over the course of time gone to his head and he expects everything and everyone to do as he says. What's his is his and he doesn't like to be challenged.   
He runs his thumb along her lip lifting her chin again as he gently brushes his lips against the side of his face and over her lips.  
  
She pulls away, standing up and it's a good job she did as she Commander Bennett's stood in the doorway."Maxwell!!" she says it with some degree of shock and surprise wondering how long he's been there.

He frowns "Ellis is everything alright?"

"Fine ! Yeah err mm..... fine! .. Captain Sharpe was ...err mm ....just giving me some advice on where to send these forms for his teams requests!" she smiles

Ryan doesn't move from his spot sitting on the desk. Main because he really doesn't care what a junior, _American_ officer thinks of him, or wonders, about what he might have been doing. But also because she's turned him on that much it would be obvious what he's thinking.

"Really? Okay!" Maxwell frowns again "Actually it's you I needed to see, Sir."

  
Captain Sharpe turns around his arousal now back in control "Really?"  
  
"Yes Sir... we have a last-minute update to brief and all things considered it would be best if you could attend.. there's err mm.... been a development .. CIA, and the team leaders, are on their way!"

"Very well!" Sharpe frowns at Bennett's guarded response. He checks his watch "Thank you for informing me, Commander,.. I'm just finishing up here and then I will give it my attention."

Ellis watches as Mandy walk past the doorway, followed by Damien and .... then _Jason.  
_He pauses for a moment staring at her directly, making her catch her breath. She smiles but he has this blank expression and his forehead wrinkles up with an uneasy frown, hesitating for few seconds as Sharpe looks at him "Did you want something, Master chief?"

"Err... no Sir"

  
Ellis watches him head from the doorway. She takes a breath and swallows hard, wondering about that look he gave her, feeling a somewhat dread to what he was thinking. Sharpe focuses her attention back in the room as he puts his hand on her shoulder, for Maxwell's benefit, patting it with his hand  
"We'll finish these up later!"

"Err mm ...Yes Sir! Thank you, it's been a great help!" she lies to continue the pretense of the situation.

"Commander Bennett, shall we?" he points the way down the corridor, as he leaves.

"Sir. I'll be right with you!" Maxwell sighs as he waits in the doorway "Ellis, are you alright?"  
  


"Yeah umm.... Yeah I'm fine .. just tired" she smiles at him before quickly looking away " I'm gonna go now, try and get some sleep!.... Maxwell!" She calls him back and he stops in the doorway " Do we know what that's all about .. I mean, a briefing this late at night?.. Is this something to do with Lucas?"

"I don't know!" he sees the sorrowful look on her face, it doesn't matter they can't play his games anymore it doesn't mean he doesn't care about her and he knows how much Lucas meant to her  
"Ellis just don't ask me questions I can't answer...... I'm am sorry but I have to go!"

She nods and takes a deep breath pushing her chair back and running her hands through her hair "Pheww!....Shit" her hands are shaking " I need a drink!"


	20. I still think Jason should know!

She sits by herself on the bench drinking. Swilling the contents round, listening in the silence of the evening to the fizz of the beer in the bottle.   
Her mind's playing over and over, thinking and wondering _What was that meeting about? _and _That look on Jason's face!_  
  
Wes drops his weight on to the wood of the bench beside her, he pulls her head to his shoulder kissing her hair "You okay?"  
  
She nods "Kind of .." this deep wistful sigh escapes her lips as she looks at him "I'd be happier when I know what the meeting they're having is about!"

"Yeah, I see Mandy come get them earlier, it's probably nothing don't worry about it!... and err mm...it looks like that snake Damien's charmed his way in with BRAVO!"

"What?" her forehead wrinkles firstly wondering why he's telling her and secondly why she's even surprised that Damien would fit right in and make them all think he's great.

"Oh yeah, him and your new _fuckbuddy, _were getting _real_ close, having a beer and a laugh!"

She frowns knowing Damien being back is getting under his skin already. Hell, its not like it's not galling her, but what can they do! "Really! So what's that all about?....Oh and Wes, don't call Jason that, okay!"

He drinks his beer looking around the other tables, they are the only people here now and he laughs "They're probably having a laugh and exchanging notes about you!"

She pulls away glaring at his comment "Fuck you!!!"   
Her head wrinkles with frowns "You know you really can be an asshole sometimes Wes!" She's really pissed by his comment and slams her bottle on the table letting him know, as she stands up to leave.

"Oh, come on Ellis." he grabs her hand, but she pulls it away "For god sake lighten up! It was a fuckin' joke!" he sighs, but he can see she's seriously annoyed "Okay, okay look, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have said that, it's just the beer talking!"  
  


No apology is going to fix it for now and she doesn't even answer him as she leaves the table and walks away.   
"Jeez! What the hell's wrong with you?.. Ellis come back! ......Oh have it your way!" he sighs again louder, tutting and sucking air through is teeth while he rakes his hands through his dark black hair "Fuck!!!"  
  
He thinks about getting up and going after her, but then he knows he'll probably only make her worse and it'll_ turn into some great big fuckin' argument._   
He's drunk way too much beer for a start, he's in a foul mood and he's horny. Something he knows she won't fix for him now, _Not while she's still lusting for Jason!_   
"Probably best all round if I just leave her alone for now!"

"Leave who alone?" Clay frowns, putting his beer on the table as he straddles his legs over the newly vacated seat at the bench. Wes doesn't answer just drinks some more beer from his nearly empty bottle. "So, you gonna tell me what's going on?"

"No, there's nothing to tell! I'm fine. Seriously, don't worry about it! I just said something I shouldn't, she'll calm down in the morning. If not I'll grovel tomorrow, it'll be fine!"   
It will be fine because their love and friendship is too deep but he also knows he shouldn't have said that and he really does feel bad.

"You don't look fine, and what was that all about before! You wanna tell me what's going on?...Come on Wes you know you can talk to me, right?"

"Oh, just stuff!" he sighs "You know ....Lucas, what happened and now that ass Damien showing up! It's just dragging up a lot of things from the past! We're all a bit on edge."

"So, you and him had a run in before? Must be serious if you still feel this way!"

Wes tempers his anger "Not really, he's an arrogant, ego driven, ass that's all! Thinks he can just do what he wants with no consequences"

"Okay.. so, what did he do that didn't have consequences, there's obviously something that pissed you off?"

"Just leave it Clay! You really don't need to know."

"Hey Wes, I thought we were friends?" he frowns watching his face, he can tell somethings seriously bothering him " Look, if nothing else, I might have to work with this ass, so I'd rather know if there's a problem with him!"

Wes drinks his beer as he watches Clay looking at him, questioning him, looking for answers that Wes is not sure he should have.  
He likes Clay, he shouldn't because Clay's everything he normally doesn't like in other guys.   
  
He's good looking for one, so much so that he's diverted a lot of ladies attention from himself, he's intelligent and he's a SEAL, something Wes could only aspire to, if he ever had the desire, which he doesn't as he's not into getting down and dirty that much, but he does like Clay and that's mostly because Clay's nice to him. He talks to him when not many guys on the base do.   
  
Oh Wes can charm the ladies but the other guys always have a problem. That's why him and Ellis get along, kindred spirits. They both know what it's like not to be liked just because they have certain ways with the opposite sex.   
What people don't understand, is under the layers, deep inside just like every one else, him and Ellis are both just looking for someone to love them.  
  
"Look if I tell you can't say anything, to _anyone_! I mean it, Ellis will kill me .. and mean _kill me_! And... I'm not sure the way things are, that it would do anyone any favors if Jason found out!"

"Sure, I can keep it to myself, scouts honor, I won't say anything, but I think you need to tell someone what's eating at you, cos this ..." he indicates to the beer bottle "...isn't doing you good!"

Wes nods and lets out a long breath before he starts to tell Clay   
"We had a run in the last time they were here. They were on a deployment so, they were here for a while!" he sighs again "Anyway the inevitable happened him and err mm..." he sighs again wondering if this is really such a good idea to tell Clay "...Ellis, they had a _thing!_ Much like the Jason _thing!_" he laughs "God she just can't help herself with ego driven assholes!"   
He rolls his eyes and drinks what's left of his beer   
"Anyway, it looked like it was getting serious, well as serious as it can in secret, out here! He liked her, she liked him but then....then as with most guys like him, he couldn't resist the rock star attention you guys get and he started screwing around! She found out, they had an major argument. Then it was over, end of!"

Clay frowns "Okay so what's your problem with it, I mean why did that affect you so much?"

"It didn't, it was over!" he sighs and looks at his beer

"No, no see I'm not buying that, there's more to it. I've seen the way you look at him, you want to kill him. This is more than him screwing around behind your friends back"

Wes pulls at the label on his bottle and nods "Yeah... yeah it is!..." He lets out this long frustrated pent up sigh "So he decides he didn't want it to be over, but she stood her ground. She wouldn't let him near her again, that was until..."   
Wes shakes his head banging his bottle on the table "Shit!" he closes his eyes thinking back

"Hey calm down! Until..." Clay frowns "..until what? Wes what happened?"

"Until the last night of his deployment. He came pestering her and she told him she wasn't interested and he could go to hell... in front of everyone! She was like ice! He was so pissed being told he couldn't have something, seriously the look on his face!"   
Wes laughs to himself thinking about it but then his expression turns sour "He was so pissed he couldn't leave it! She went back to her bunk and.....and he was waiting!"  
Wes closes his eyes as he shakes his head remembering it all "I don't exactly know what happened but basically ..." Clay frowns as Wes looks at his beer postponing telling him the full story

"Basically what?" Clay watches the expression on Wes's face change " Wes, what did he do?"

"Basically.... he..err mmm... he forced himself on her!"

"He what?!" Clay looks around checking their still alone and even though they are he still keeps his voice down to a hushed low "_Forced_... as in ..."   
  
"Yeah!" Wes nods "He hurt her! She had bruises on her wrists...Christ Clay, she was so upset! I've never seen her like that and I just lost it. I just got this rush to the head, I couldn't think and I had to do something. I went after him, smacked him around a bit, I don't even know how, but I found the strength" he laughs   
"Didn't do me a lot of good, found myself in the cooler the next day, looking at losing my job, my career over and all because of that ass!"

"So, did she report him?" Clay frowns "For what he did, I mean?"

"No!" Wes shakes his head as the furrow lines get deeper across Clay's forehead   
  
"No?! Why the hell not? I mean come on... that's like a serious charge!"

He laughs "Oh come on Clay, you're not that naïve ... Everyone knew the gossip that they'd been screwing each other, plus ... I think you know, even if it's not all true, she ain't got a great reputation here! So who was gonna believe her.. hmmm? Anyway, that ass already got his story straight with the cake eaters."   
  


Wes drinks some more and finishes the bottle tossing it towards the bin, but missing. "He told them she was the one obsessed with him ...you know him being SAS! Like I said it was common gossip what was going on with those two! And you know he was right in a way, for a while, she was obsessed that's why it hurt her so much when he was screwing around behind her back. Anyway he told the suits she wouldn't take no for an answer and so in payback she was going to make up this accusation of him of forcing himself on her."

"But Wes, if she reported him they'd have to investigate surely? They wouldn't just take his word."

Wes laughs "Investigate? Investigate what, it would never have got that far! You know you special forces guys are untouchables! You can go and do what you want, you ask for something you get it! And what some_ tramp_ makes an accusation against a million-dollar trained operator, which one are they more interested in believing, hmmm? You tell me!"

"So, what happened with you about hitting him I mean, cos you kept your job!"

Wes shakes his head "No!.. I kept _a_ job not _my_ job" he sighs "Ellis called in some favors with some cake eater she had some dirt on, he wasn't none too happy, but also wasn't pleased with what one of his own had done, so Damien and his team got shipped out on the next flight and we wound up working in stores!"   
He wistfully sighs again thinking it all over "Did you know I was a helo engineer and she did tactical logistics before all this. They just kept us grateful and, quiet. She blocked it all out and carried on like nothing happened."

"But Wes, even now she could still report it, I mean him!"

"No, no, she won't! Do you blame her, really? I mean to put herself through that for him to walk away from it! No she was probably right. That's what grieves me with him being back, swaggering around for all to think he's so great, seeing him and Jason laughing and she's just gonna have to suck it up, that's gonna be the hardest for me to take! That's why this whole thing with her and Jason it scares me"

"Hey Jason, would never hurt her like that. He would _NEVER_ do that, never!"

"No, you're right but ... she will probably still get hurt! She might come across like she's all fun and don't care but that's not the insecure person she is inside. She cares about a lot of things, too much. Falls too hard!"

Clay sighs and drinks from his beer "You know maybe it might be better to tell Jason, before he finds out?"

"NO!! God no! Clay, you promised you wouldn't say anything! That's the only reason I told you...look there are only on a few people who knew what happened, so you need to keep this to yourself. If she finds out I told you ....just don't say anything, to anyone!"

"Okay.. alright, but I still think Jason should know what an asshole he really is!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She's still pissed by the comment Wes made, and she's swearing and calling him names as she sits on the crates outside the stores, kicking her legs, taking in the cool of the evening air.   
  
Looking up to the sky, at the stars in the darkness above, tears welling in her eyes, as the memories of that night, the night Lucas died, flood back in her head. The events, replay over and over. The what if's and if only we hadn't, as they do every evening since it happened.

She takes out her phone and smiles at the screen. Her, Lucas and Wes wrapped in each other's arms smiling with the selfie stick Lucas bought. The one Wes laughed at him for buying. _That's so lame Lucas!_ _Yeah right Wes, the one you use more than anyone else!_  
She runs her finger across the glass touching his face, taking a deep breath. Then she lets the breath go as she hits the text button.

JASON: "Hey :) .... Hope ur meetings nearly over... don't b 2 long .. I have a surprise for you! :D x"

She hits send as she jumps down from the crates and heads back to the bunk units.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Sitting with her knees bent and her chin rested on them, her phone in her hand scrolling on various internet, time fillers. The pillows she scrunched up behind her, so that she's propped against the wall, sitting in Jason's bed, while she waits for him to come back.  
  
She looks at her watch _Where the hell are you?   
_A long sigh escapes her mouth as tiredness starts to creep over her body. She yawns, before laying down and making herself more comfortable.   
  
She yawns again, checking her phone before she places it on the floor by the bed. She wanted to surprise him, to change the look he had on his face, to hopefully make him happy, to turn him on, but it's gotten late and she's having a hard time keeping her eyes open, constantly yawning. _It's been a long day!  
_  
She checks the time again as she touches the screen on her phone, tilting her head to look at the picture of Lucas. _I miss you!_   
She wasn't planning on falling asleep but it's not long, in the comfort and peaceful quiet, of Jason's space, before her eyes close and she is.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Jason sighs as he stands on the steps to his bunk taking in the chill of the cool night. He rubs his hands through his hair, his mind absorbed by thoughts from the day and more so the briefing.   
Certainly, wasn't what he was expecting tonight. 

He lets out a long sigh, enjoying the cool air on his face it's a respite from the heat of the day, as he try's to relax_.  
Tomorrow is going to be a hot one! Tomorrow's going to be some day for sure! _And now he needs to get some sleep and prepare.   
  
He looks up towards Ellis and Mandy's bunk seeing Mandy headed to her bed. She nods acknowledging that she's seen him before she heads in and closes the door.   
  
He rubs his head _Shit!.. What am I going to say to Ellis?_   
He puts those thoughts out of his head for tonight as he opens his own door where he immediately stops in the threshold. With the door still open, letting the cool breeze into the space, he smiles.   
No matter how much stress and tension he now has in his head, he smiles at the scene in front of him. _Ellis!_

He stands quietly watching her, sleeping, laid out on the top of his bed.   
  
So peacefully fast asleep, she looks perfect and he closes the door quietly, so not to wake her while he just continues to enjoy looking at her.   
  
He laughs to himself _Always the risk taker! _Her being in his room, the possibility of getting caught, but he kind of likes it. The thought of her taking risks, like thoughts of her and her body, it turns him on.

He must admit he likes seeing her there, it was nice to come back to and he smiles thinking of the text she sent and now he can see the _surprise_ she probably had in store.  
  
She's virtually, naked lying on the white sheets of his bed making her bronzed toned body look great. He smiles. _Nice surprise Ellis! _Her naked curves only clothed by her _orange bikini!_


	21. The briefing - part 1

***Warning this contains Adult theme / description of Sex.  
Scroll down after the **** if you want to skip that part to continue the story   
**

Quietly he removes his jacket hanging it over the back over the chair before pulling his Tee over his head and laying that on top. Then he unzips his khakis, stopping only for a minute as she stirs, turning over in the bed until she's facing him. After slipping them off he gently slides himself into the bed beside her, running his finger on her cheek and pushing the strands of hair back from her face.  
She stirs taking a breath, her eyes fluttering to the light, as the feeling of his touch wakes her.   
  
Now she can feel the soft touch from the rough of his hand gliding over the curves of her waist and round down over the firmness of her butt, gently squeezing and massaging her flesh. "Hey!" he smiles gazing into her eyes as she opens them.

"Hey!" She smiles in reply "You're back then?"

He nods "I got your message. Sorry I didn't reply, I was still in the briefing!"

She nods and smiles as he runs his fingers on the inside edge of the bikini panties "So, was this my surprise?"

She nods again, the big smile on her face teasing him "Maybe!"

"Oh only, _maybe_, Hmm! ... Well _maybe _I can come up with a surprise for you!"

"Do you think you can. I mean it's late, there's not many places to get something from now?"

"Oh.... I'm sure I can come _up_ with something, especially looking at you in this!" he continues to run his finger round the edge of the fabric.   
She moves back against the wall making space in the, small, bed for him to lie down next to her.  
  
Then as he moves closer he puts his hand to her cheek and his lips gently take hers, her reaching forward to accept those kisses. The heat from his lips make her tingle all over, she wants more as she locks her hand round the back of his head, holding him to her.  
He pulls back from the constant kissing so he can enjoy looking at her, what she's offering him as his hands feel the smoothness of her skin, her allowing them to slide across her flesh round all her curves and up her neck.  
  
His lips are back on hers, his tongue tasting her, she's enjoying it, the closeness it gives as his free hand takes a quick tug on the orange string keeping the halter top tied round the back of her neck. Pulling at it slowly it comes undone. Then moving down the line of her back he pulls the tie there in the same way, making it loose until he's able to pull the small orange fabric away from where it clings to the shape of her chest. Once free of the cloth his hand makes a wanton, firm but careful, grab on her breast.   
  
Stopping his kisses again he moves back watching his hand as he massages her soft plump mound. The hard bead of her nipple in the middle of that soft, teasing him and he can't help his thumb rubbing across and around until he makes it peak with pleasure.   
  
_"Mmmmm!"_ She smiles, she's enjoying his touch so much, putting her smaller softer hand down to fabric of his shorts and she can feel how much he's getting turned on "Looks like you came up with a surprise, after all?"

"I think I did!" he takes a deep satisfied breath as she massages him, putting her hand inside the thin fabric "_Mmmmmm!_... Oh god!" he sighs _That feels so good_.   
His lips are back on hers, his mouth crashing hers and his tongue invading her mouth.   
"So, do you want it...my surprise?"

She gives him this sexy playful, teasing smile, biting her lip for a moment, toying with him, making him wait "Maybe!"

"Maybe?!" he frowns at her

"Come here!" she puts her arms round his neck taking a deep breath absorbing his scent as she nuzzles against him, just enjoying him holding her, his strong muscles wrapping her up as he softly rubs her back, his hand on the nape of her neck while staring into her eyes before he plunges his mouth back against hers again.

Her arms now wrapped tightly around his neck, not wanting to let him go   
"Hold me!" she sighs absorbing his scent as he wraps round her tighter, pulling her on top of him. Her head resting against his chest, she closes her eyes enjoying the moment.

"You tired?" he watches her

"Yeah I am!"   
  
He brushes her hair off her neck "Go to sleep then."

She smiles at the thought of sleeping just like this, her hand softly stroking his bicep as she listens to his heart beating "I thought you were giving me a surprise?"

"Yeah well perhaps we both need some sleep!"   
He's thinking about the day ahead tomorrow "Perhaps, if you don't sleep too long I might still have it for you when you wake up!" He smiles as she laughs.  
  
She actually feels contented, him just holding her like this, but she can still feel his want for her. The hard bulge in his shorts pressing against her and she puts her hand down massaging and softly feeling the hard flesh as it stiffens more to her touch.  
He's so turned on he wonders _Is he really going to be able to sleep, not if she carries on massaging me like this. I'm not going to last!  
_

He tests the want of her tiredness versus that of her desires as he loops his fingers in the string of her bikini briefs and undoes the ties at the side. Sliding his hand round the smooth skin of her butt, down her thigh and round to the warmth of her wetness._"Mmmm!"_ she groans making it clear she'd much rather give into desire than sleep.   
  
She can feel her own wet excitement as his over excited hand rubs against her soft warmth, arousing her, sending waves of pleasure through her body.   
"_Ohhh!..._Gently!" She takes hold of his hand, as his enthusiasm gets a little rough. She smiles his eagerness obvious as she softly keeps sighing as he now gets the pressure just right _"Oh!....Mmmmhh!_ That's good!" she looks him in the eyes gently kissing his lips, wanting him, needing him.  
Pushing her hips to the touch of his fingers as he parts her warm folds before he dips them inside her, checking she wants this, testing her, teasing her. As he makes her more wet, she takes hold of that hard and massages again pulling it towards her, eagerly showing him what she wants and making him smile.   
"Someone wants my surprise now, don't they!"

_"Mmmm hmmm!"_ she smiles

He stops for a moment as he slides his shorts off then deftly moves her underneath him on the bed.   
He begins again where he started as he pushes his flesh against her, until his want is too great and he uses his hardness, teasing and softly pleasuring her parts, his wet tip pushing her own wetness over her clit, making it stiffen and peak, straining for more touch.   
Then he guides himself to her wet entrance and pushes himself deep inside. His hand sliding under the round of her butt holding her tight against him so he can experience all of her.

_Mmmm!_ she takes in a breath as he pushes and releases, again and again, getting each stroke in slightly more and gaining in pace until he's lost inside himself, taking her, getting his pleasure from filling her, she puts her hand down between them touching and stimulating herself as he pushes in and out. The friction of her hand causing him more pleasure and exciting her to a point where she can't hold back and the wave of ecstatic feelings crashes and engulfs her body.   
  
She's pushing her hips up and arching her back so that his mouth is against her nipple and he takes it tipping him to a point where he loses control. "Oh God!!!! _Yesssssh!....__ Oh Ellis!! Mmmmm!_" He grunts and grinds against her until she can feel his warm excitement filling her, taking over her body, wet running onto her thigh.   
  
She smiles kissing him, holding and pulling him. Wrapping her arms and legs round him, not wanting to let him go! _"Mmmm! _Have to say Mr Hayes that was a really nice surprise!"   
She smiles as he brushes the strays of her hair from her face which is now flushed with excited contentment.   
He doesn't move staying in position, so they are still connected, rolling on his side holding her in the crook of his arm, as she closes her eyes. He kisses the top of her head then closes his eyes too.

***********************************************************************************************

"Oh god!" _What the hell is that noise? _  
She can hear a vibrating noise buzzing as she wakes. It's the alarm on her phone she set to remind her to get up earlier, she kind of wishes she hadn't now, but needs must, and she has to get up and leave before the base really starts to come alive.

Jason's arm is across her chest, his hand on what seems to be in his favorite place, cupping her breast. She smiles. _He seems to have a love affair with them all their own._  
She stretches under this weight trying to reach her cell as the buzz is starting to annoy her, but she's almost stuck to the bed with the strength of his arm holding her in place, him not letting her go .   
Eventually after gently wrestling herself free she reaches the phone "Christ!!" She looks at the time "Four am!... Arrghhhh!"  
She only feels like she's been asleep for a couple of hours, which is actually true. Seems they just couldn't get enough of each other last night.  
  
She switches the phone off as she turns looking at Jason still deep in his sleep.   
  
She lays there watching him, so peaceful but she can't imagine what's going on in his head. This must be the first time since she's slept with him she's seen him actually seem at peace, normally there's a turmoil in his face, eyes flickering and deep breathing, so she knows he must be tired to be this still.   
  
She blows softly on his cheek and he still doesn't move before she kisses his lips very gently and delicately.

He opens his eyes watching her but not moving as she does it again until he puts his hand round her head and pulls her deep to his lips.  
She smiles watching him as he pulls her back against him. "_Mmmm_ as nice as this is, I have to get up, its four am!" she frowns " I have to go before I'm missed!"

They lay there in the peace and quiet not moving Jason brain thinking over the meeting and the day ahead

"Something wrong?" she frowns she can now see he's thinking about something

"No, nothing, don't worry!"

"Nothing? Oh, okay! So, err mm... what was your meeting, last night, about? Seemed heavy duty for that time of night."

"Hmmm!" he sighs "Oh few details for the briefing this morning. There's going to be an op coming up today!"

"Oh right! No one said anything. Do you need anything prepping I mean?"   
She frowns hoping he'll give her something, some detail to just put her wondering mind at rest. Actually she's not sure what she's wondering because as hard as it is she knows at some point they're going to say it's about Lucas, and bringing his body home. But she wants it to be sooner rather than it dragging out.

"There's a briefing first thing, we'll discuss it all then" he kisses her running his hand down her back, anything to try and steer the conversation away from what he knows and she doesn't.

"Okay, but you know you can tell me, if something's worrying you. I'd never say anything ... Hell I've kept enough secrets!" She laughs then immediately tries to take it back when she sees the frown on his face "I mean they upped my security clearance so... you can tell me anything, right!" she brushes her hand through his hair gently dropping a kiss back on the soft of his mouth.

"I'm sorry ... I just can't. Everything will be put in place later!" he gives her this worrying, unsure smile that now only adds to her dread. She's sure this is to say they are going to get Lucas's body_. What else could it be, that he won't tell her? _"This anything to do with Lucas?"

"Ellis please don't keep asking me, I've told you, I can't tell you!"

She can see that he's annoyed but it does nothing but confirm she's correct. "Okay, fine! I'll just assume that's yes then?!"   
She sits up, unsure as to why but she's now annoyed and slightly angry with him, it feels a bit like he doesn't trust her, because he won't say, she knows it must be difficult for him, but that still doesn't curb this pissed off feeling inside her.  
Finding the T shirt she took off last night, she pulls it over her head, not bothering to put her bra on.   
Sitting at the edge of the bunk finding her combat pants she turns round to look at him. He's still staring at ceiling   
"Jason what's wrong? You seem distant this morning."

He sighs, taking a deep intake of breath. She can see his eyes flick in her direction then back at the ceiling, she can hear the thoughts churning around, feel the vibe of turmoil coming off him. There's a question, or something he wants to ask sitting right on the edge of his lips. She's waiting for it while she watches him. "Tell me what's going on! I know something's wrong, I can see it."

He coughs looking at her, as she watches the lines on his forehead crease further and deeper. He so desperately wants an answer to this question, but then does he? Does he really want to know? "What was Sharpe doing in your office, last night?"

"Sharpe?...Err mmm..." she coughs "When? Last night. I..I think he was just waiting for the briefing to start...I don't really remember what he wanted."

"Ellis,don't lie!"

She looks away awkwardly before turning back and staring him in the face "I'm not lying why would I? He was just helping me with some forms ... there's some paperwork, it's more complicated because it's a joint operation. You know, who's paying for what!"   
  
She continues to ramble and Jason sighs laughingly disbelieving her, he holds the side of her head making her look at him "Stop! Okay I saw. ... I saw him sitting on the desk. It all looked very cosy so tell me. What was going on?"

She sighs "Nothing, nothing was going on! I swear. Jason I told you that's over, it's not happening!"

"But he wanted something to happen?" he frowns at her "Do you want something to happen? Am I just a filler till you get back with him?"

She takes a sudden intake of breath at that question "No! .. No! I can't believe you asking me that! Jeez Jason!" She's hurt that he thinks like that and pulls away.   
She thought she had been making it obvious about the way she felt about him. She stares at him unsure what to say. She won't keep defending herself as that will sound worse   
"I have to go! But Jason... there's nothing going on, you have to believe that!"

He stares at her watching, wishing he could believe but he saw what he saw. A senior officer sitting the way he was, too close, too up personal no, that just didn't make sense.

Jason's phone starts bleeping and only moments after so does Ellis's. He sits up and leans forward getting his from the shelf. Studying it.

She frowns "What's going on?"

"Briefing, we gotta go!"

"Briefing for what ... this operation?"

"Yeah, I'd say so!"

"I need to get a shower...." she think as she can't go to a briefing with the feeling of last nights sex between her thighs. 

She sits across his lap, forgetting their differences for now,even if she can still see the look in his face means he's still not satisfied by the answer she gave regards to Sharpe's presence last night. "I'll see you there!"

He nods brushing her hair back, his hands up under the fabric of the T-Shirt she's now covered her breasts with "Come here!" he pulls her in kissing her fondling and tweaking at her nipples again "You know what I'd like right now?"

She smiles pushing her chest forward to his gentle tugs "We don't have time for that!"

"No not that!" he tweaks her nipple hard his way of telling her off for trying to arouse him again. "No, I'd like to be in that shower with you! You know proper morning after, not all this bullshit, having to hide!"   
He smiles raking his hands through her hair pulling it back in his hands.He is so tempted to take her again

"_Mmmm!._..Yeah that would be nice but.. err... en-suite is probably something even I can't fix!" She leans in kissing him, her brain thinking, though she doesn't say it, she knows only _very _senior officers have private showers. "You know what, maybe you'll have to settle for the next best thing! I'll send you a picture from the shower!"

He nods, smiling, staring at the beauty in her face and her eyes. Running his hand down her curves settling his hand back on her breast. "Ellis ..." he kisses her, pulling her head not wanting to let her go. "...doesn't matter!"

She can feel the want he has for her. Something has changed this doesn't just feel like fun time sex, no it's like she can feel him feeling something more. But she needs to leave now because if not it's going to spill over again. "I need to go!"   
She doesn't want to, no she could stay here all day with him looking at her like this but that's not the reality and they both know it.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Mandy's in the briefing room as Ellis walks in. It's just her and Mandy.

"Do you need anything?"   
She's slightly unsure of her role, complicated by the fact it's a joint operation, with CIA involvement, add to that they already had a briefing she wasn't part of, she actually has no idea who's in charge or what's going on, let alone what's required from her. But, she knows there's not a lot she can't organise, even in a short time frame, so she'll just take it as is comes, and at least she might now find out what's going on!

Group Captain Sharpe enters the room and they both look round.   
"Morning Sir." Mandy smiles as she looks up from her laptop

Ellis watches him looking at Mandy, he doesn't register any interest in her. She's kind of glad, in a way, not because she's jealous, or at least she doesn't think she would be but because at least she won't have to laughably watch him try to flirt with her.  
Flirting is not one of Ryan's things. If he wants you he tells it straight. _I want to fuck you so bad and at some point I'm going to!_ She laughs thinking about him saying that to her the first time they met, when she was helping organise some function that was happening on base. Though if she's honest she was flirting with him.

"Sir" Ellis nods to him

"Sir, I wasn't expecting you to attend this briefing this morning, as I thought you were up to speed last night!" Mandy looks up

"No, I can tell!" He looks at his watch and the empty briefing room "Where is everyone?"

"Err mm .." Mandy looks awkward. It doesn't look good when the most senior officer on base is here and none of any of the teams are "I'll find out where everyone is, Commander Blackburn is here already here. I'll go find him."

"I'll go!"  
Ellis volunteers, mainly so she's not left alone in the office with him, but Mandy trumps her card   
"No I'll go, I need to get a file anyway!"

Ellis nods, as she watches Sharpe head to the front of the room, browsing through the papers Mandy just left. She sighs "Ryan why are you here? It's not normal protocol for a senior officer such as yourself, to be an operational briefing"

"No, but it's also not normal situation, I have four British servicemen involved in an explosion. The press are all over this and I don't want any fuck ups! With General Malcolm taken ill, I can't leave Blackburn in command of this so I will be overseeing this personally. Plus...." he smiles watching her ".... it has some perks! I get an excuse to see you for one!"

She looks around checking they're still alone "Ryan please just stop! You know what I told you!" She coughs as Damien and his team arrive.   
  
"What ... no Team USA here yet?" he laughs looking at his guys "Must need their beauty sleep!"

Damien can be insufferable. If he finds a reason to pick holes he will. The rest of his team are not much better, full of arrogant British sarcasm. Sometimes she wonders why they put up Damien but much like Bravo they are well bonded. They would do anything for Damien, and him for them. She has to admire that, no matter how much she detests him now.

He brushes past her as he takes a seat at the head of the table next to where Sharpe is standing. " Ellis, how are you finding your new job?"

She doesn't look at him but meets Ryan's gaze, as he looks up from the paperwork, watching how she responds to him. "It's fine! If you'll excuse me I need to get some things... I'll be back!"

Sharpe hovers silently over the folder on the desk not looking at it but watching Ellis. He can feel the awkward tension and he watches Damien eyeing her up   
"Sergeant Major Scott... I hope you're going to show some respect during these briefing's? You may be running point on this operation, but you can still show some courtesy to our American counterparts"

"Of course, Sir." he frowns wondering now what he did to offend. Then he smiles watching Ellis look round at Sharpe's comments and he knows "I hope you wouldn't expect any less from me, Sir"   
Damien knows that's his card marked regarding Ellis. "Master Chief Hayes and I have been getting on very well...I can't see any reason the rest of his team won't be the same"

"Good! Just keep in mind what I just said. This is a difficult situation, for everyone involved and I have government officials looking at my every move on this not to mention the press are all over why service men were behind the wire, so I can't afford anyone screwing this up! Do I make myself clear?"

"Oh, there'll be no screw ups from my team, Sir. Rest assured!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Sonny and Clay arrive followed by Brock and Trent they take their seats at the back of the room. Cerb curling himself up by Brock's feet, under the desk.

As Ellis is leaving she passes Clay in the doorway, she smiles. "Hey!"  
  
"Hey, How are you, you okay?" Clay can't help feeling a twinge of pity now, not after what Wes told him. He looks around the room to see Damien staring at him.

"Yeah! Just err mm...you know expecting the worst. That it's going to be about Lucas"

He puts his arm on Ellis "Hey .. it's going to be alright you know. We will bring him home"

She sighs "Yeah, I'll just be glad when I know what this briefing is about, but I don't have a good feeling"

"Come on .. it'll be fine!" he puts his hand on her arm and smiles

"Err mm ... Private Baxter could you bring some coffees back with you! It's early and we could be here for a while" Damien looks at his watch then at Sharpe "A coffee for you, Sir?"

"Yes coffee, might be a good idea. Thank you!"

Ellis sighs. _Yeah great promotion Ellis, fucking coffee girl now!_ Closing her eyes she wonders how much of Damien she will actually be able to stomach."Certainly, sir I'll get some now!"

"I'll give you hand!" Clay looks over at Damien glaring at him _Arrogant ass!_

"You know I'm sure she can manage a few coffees by herself!"

"Yeah and I can manage to give her hand to carry them back!"Clay frowns at him.

"Oh, I'm _sure _you can!" Damien has this smirk on his face "I'm sure there's a_ lot _of things you could give her _a hand_ with .. Mr Spenser!"

Sharpe looks at Damien watching him and Clay staring at each other.  
"I'm just offering some help... I thought we were supposed to be a joint operations _team_?"

"Of course, ... just don't forgot we all have positions within that team, wouldn't want lines getting crossed"

Clay frowns at him. Sharpe frowns at him

"Just ignore him, Clay. He'll love it if you rise to it! Come on let's get these coffees" She sighs letting out the breath she held, so that she didn't say anything she could be held accountable for.

"Ellis, are you okay?" Clay frowns showing his concern.

"Yeah! Yeah I'm fine! He's just an ass that's all! Like I said, just best ignoring him!"

Clay nods in agreement "Yeah, Wes told me!"

"Wes told you...told you what exactly?" a deep concerned frown etches her face, panicking for a moment, wondering _Just what Wes has been running his mouth off about_.

"Just err mm ...that he's an arrogant asshole!"   
Clay berates himself inside, he can't believe he said that. Though in some ways he wants her to know that he knows, that it bothers him what happened, that he doesn't find it acceptable and, that he believes her. But he also promised his friend he wouldn't say anything, he wouldn't tell her that he knew. "I just get the impression Wes doesn't like him very much!"

"No, him and Wes don't get on! They had a run in a while back ... nothing really." she brushes it off. Looking up as Jason and Blackburn arrive "We better get these coffees they look like they're gonna be ready to start soon"

Jason smiles, holding his phone up. She blushes knowing he's acknowledging the video message she sent him when she took a shower. She laughs and looks away.   
She's not sorry she did it. It was fun at the time, and he enjoyed it! But now with hindsight perhaps she shouldn't have done it. Though he still doesn't look like he minds too much. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

The briefing is underway, introductions being made before they get down to the serious nature of the operation.

Everyone wondering how long Group Captain Sharpe is going to remain in the room as the banter is much more under control while he casts his watchful eye over proceedings. He soon answers that query by explaining the chain of command and it looks like the jokes are going to be remaining firmly under control for some time yet. 

Ellis and Clay are back with the coffees and pass them around. Damien is watching them, as Ellis and Clay laugh about something that happened in the canteen while they were gone.

"Are you ready to start Sargeant Major, only looks to me like something is occupying your attention!" Captain Sharpe has been watching him staring at Ellis since she came back.

"Sir, of course you have my full attention! But err mm..."   
Now Damien words it carefully, after all he doesn't want to make unfounded accusations, _But then if Clay will do things to undermine my authority then he deserves everything he gets_!  
"... I think something, or rather someone, is occupying Mr Spenser's attention!"

Sharp looks up watching Clay and Ellis laughing. She's making a joke, to Clay about his muscles and something Wes said and has a grip on his arm.   
He bites his lip watching at the continuous smiles and laughs being exchanged "Are you insinuating something there Damien?"

"Me Sir? No, I wouldn't presume to insinuate anything. I just think they seem to be getting on rather well that's all, don't you?"

Sharp takes a deep intake of breath "GENTLEMEN, shall we get this underway. We'll have time for joking around.... Mr Spenser, when the job is done. Now, please, take a seat!"

Clay looks up he feels the tension in the tone that Sharpe uses. So does Sonny and Jason, they both look at Clay. _Hope he's not already winding cake eaters of this caliber up!_

Eric can see the look on Jason's face and the one on the Captains and he steps in "Clay why don't you sit down, now! I'm sure Baxter can manage the coffees by herself!"

"Sir!" Clay frowns, letting out an exasperated sigh as he takes his seat at the table.

Sonny leans in "Can you just keep your head for the rest of this meeting please. We've had enough trouble already, without bringing more cake eaters down on us!"


	22. The briefing - part 2

"For those of you that may not know, I am Group Captain Sharpe. I will be your senior command on this operation"

There's a hushed intake of breath in the room and Eric makes a quick look at Jason, they already knew this from the briefing last night, so he awkwardly looks down at the paperwork on the table and not the questioning glances from the guys in the room.  
  
Privately he has to admit he's not happy about the situation, but with General Malcolm out of action due to an illness what can he do.  
He would have preferred someone less high ranking, and certainly he wouldn't have chosen Sharpe if he'd had any choice, but as he was told, with the British involved and the complexities of the media and official eyes on them, this was more than Eric could, or even wanted to deal with alone.   
So now he'd have to deal with Sharpe and the problems an officer like him could bring, and it certainly meant he'd have to keep BRAVO in line because when Sharpe said jump the answer was always how high!

"I need to ensure _total_ smooth running of this operation. There will be _No_ fuck ups! Do you understand me! We are being watched, and I mean watched from some very high placess. Not only people higher up the food chain but the press are all over this too. They've been picking up stories of personnel going off base and unsettling the locals for weeks now and there have been more than enough screw ups already. I _WILL NOT_ tolerate any more. Is that clear to you all?"

"Yes Sir!" comes the collective reply as they all shift awkwardly in their seats.

"For now, Sargent Major Scott will be running point on this operation, he will answer to Commander Blackburn, who will in turn answer directly to me!"

Eric takes a breath looking up and raising his eyebrows as Jason smiles at him.  
Normally he has an intermediary to take the pressure off him dealing with this type of cake eater, so now he's feeling the pressure of getting it right first time.  
Though for all his concerns General Malcolm and Sharpe were two ends of the military spectrum and sometime the clashes Eric had already witnessed did not make for harmony, so in some ways perhaps this was a better outcome, just as long as Eric could manage both teams and keep them in line.   
So he was glad that Jason appeared to be getting on so well with Sargent Major Scott, as that meant he wouldn't have the Alpha clash he normally had to deal with when Jason was asked to do joint partner ups.

Sonny and Ray look at Jason and don't see him flinch, he looks straight ahead and Ray frowns at him and whispers "You okay with that?"

"Yeah sure, why wouldn't I be?"  
This has come as no surprise for Jason, they already covered the leadership issues in last nights briefing so to him it was resolved already. Did he like it? _Hell no!_ but it was what it was, and Damien was great guy so hopefully there wouldn't be a problem.

"I mean normally you'd be... well...you know!" Ray shrugs he can't believe Jason's handling it so well.

"Damien's fine! He's experienced with this, so he knows what he's doing. Plus,from what I've seen he's good at handling Sharpe so that takes the heat off us, right?"  
Ray still raises his eyebrows wondering where this new Jason, the one taking it all in his stride has come from. Jason can see the look on Bravo twos face "Ray, they lost four guys it's understandable they gonna take the lead. Look, this err mm...it's not straight forward, so just pay attention and let's get this job done the best we can!"

Ray looks at Sonny, they're both thinking the same thing, that this doesn't sound like a normal Jason statement. Normally the Alpha in him would want total control.  
He didn't say it to Ray but he did want control, he asked for it and got put back in his box last night in a clash with Sharpe, so he wasn't going to revisit that again, well not in front of both teams.

"Alright then, if we're all clear on the command structure, then Agent Ellis would you like to begin the brief!"

"Certainly Sir, thank you."  
She gets the video ready and one of the British Marines faces appears on the screen.  


Ellis, Sonny and Clay take a deep breath as they recognise him from the card game on the night of the explosion.  
  
Ellis is stood at the back of the room making notes on her pad. She stops as they all look at each other and she holds her breath, preparing herself for the worst, willing herself to hold it together. Expecting any minute to see a picture of Lucas appear. She looks round the room seeing Damien and Jason watching her.

"Agent Ellis, can I just stop you for a moment" Damien puts his hand up to halt the proceedings "Sir, could have a quick word?"

Sharpe frowns, he's growing impatient and wants to get on "Is it necessary Sargent Major?"

"Yes, I think so Sir."

"Very well!" they turn their backs as they stand in the corner of the room and there's a lot of low whispers. Jason frowns watching them wonder _What the hell's going on, now?_   
"Something we should know?" This is type of thing, not being in the loop, that he doesn't like about not being the one in control.

Sharpe considers Damien's words for a moment while he stares at Ellis, who's still standing at the back of the room. He coughs "Private Baxter, can I ask you to leave the room please."

She looks around all eyes are now fixed on her _What the hell have I done now? _  
"Sorry Sir, I don't understand?" she swallows hard, it feels like everyone's eyes are burning into her "I thought Commander Bennett said my security had been cleared"

"This is a sensitive issue and I feel it's in your best interest, that you're not involved in this briefing. It contains some classified intel that you don't need to know, so if you please, we need to get this underway."

Damien gets up and holds the door open. She frowns at Sharpe, ignoring Damien. Mandy looks her then at Sharpe, she's not understanding this decision either.  
  
Jason frowns "Something I should know here?" he's wondering if he missed something. _ Why did they ask her to come to now ask her to leave?_

"I just think given the intel that it would be in Private Baxter's best interests not to be involve at this stage"

  
She frowns "You know I'm a big girl, I can handle things! This is about Lucas isn't it? I don't understand how I am supposed to do my job if you want me to leave the room?"

"Ellis!" Sharpe almost forgets himself for a moment "It's for the best! The team leaders I'm sure can update you with any requirements they have"

Damien nods "Yes I will come to you personally with our Alpha squadrons needs ... I'm sure Master Chief Hayes can do the same!"

Sharpe looks at her, he feels bad for her having to do this in front of everyone and he wishes Damien had brought the issue to his attention earlier then he could have asked her not to attend, rather than in front of everyone, asking her to leave.

She stalls, willing Sharpe to change his mind. She doesn't care, she'll deal with whatever it is, but she wants to know about Lucas. _It has to be about Lucas that's the only thing it can be._

She doesn't know what game Damien is playing as she stares at him while he holds the door "If you don't mind we do need to get his under way!"

She takes a breath controlling her anger "Whatever this is ..." she says under her breath to him

"This is nothing personal. But it is for the best!"

"Go to hell Damien!"

"Sir!" Clay speaks up "I'm sorry but you asked her to do a job and she's right how do you expect her to do it if she's not involved in the briefing?"  
Clay can see the look on her face and the fact Damien is involved clouds Clay's judgement of the situation. "I mean what that's like asking us to go do something, but you won't tell us what. Come on Jason ... you would have never asked Davis to leave like this!" He frowns at Jason wondering why he's just sitting there.

"Mr Spenser!" Clay looks round as Sharpe now addresses him "I don't like the tone you're using to address a senior officer's decision! Now, as I understand it, you have a personal friendship with Miss Baxter but let's not let that impact our behaviour." He glares as Clay then turns to Jason   
"Master Chief, perhaps you need to remind some of _your _team how the command structure works on a joint operation, because I am certainly not used to having my orders questioned."

Jason takes a breath "Sir, I'm sure Spenser didn't intend to question your authority. He err.. gets a little carried away at times." Jason stares at Clay willing him to shut up.

"That's all very well but maybe you need to bring him back in line and make sure he doesn't get carried away! I wouldn't want to have start disciplining people before we even get the operation underway"

"No, Sir!"

Sonny sucks in air, shaking his head. _That's us already in the doghouse_. Clay bites his tongue as Sonny whispers to him "Clay, what the hell are you doin'?"

"I just don't think they should have spoken to her like that ... not in front of everyone!"

"He's a god damn cake eater, of the highest order. He can speak to any of us how he god damn pleases!"

"Yeah well it was...."

"Yeah well ...just keep quiet! You've got yourself in his cross hairs and that's probably not a good place for any of us to be!"

Hearing them whispering Jason stares at him willing them to shut up "Clay, you got a problem here?"

"No! I just .. well it's just bullshit!"

"Don't worry about it Clay" Ellis smiles at him then stares at Sharpe "I'm going!" she throws the notebook she had in her hand on the table and leaves. Damien closing the door behind her.  


Ellis stands outside the room taking deep breath "What a load of bullshit!! Why the hell did I agree to this!... Fuck!!" She shakes her head before storming off down the corridor.

The room goes quiet as they hear her swearing outside. Clay shakes his head. Jason looks down. Ray and Sonny raise their eyes.  
Damien just sits looking smug "It's best for her at this stage!"

Sharpe's not sure but he takes a breath "Right, Agent Ellis would you like to continue!"

"Err mm.. certainly, Corporal McIntyre..." The picture comes on screen and Sonny and Clay look at each other. It's a reminder of what they were involved in.  
"...one of four British personnel believed to have been killed in an explosion last week. I'm sure you aware of!"  
She flicks the switch and the picture changes to a wasteland of desert with a body lying face up. "This footage was sent to us yesterday. From the ISR drone footage, we've now obtained, we believe its Corporal McIntyre's body"

Everyone looks at each other the frowns and hushed sighs of confusion.

"So, what they took his body from the explosion and left it in the desert?" Ray queries

"No! No, we don't believe then took his body. From the drone images we've analyzed, we believe it was likely Corporal McIntyre was alive when he was taken, tortured and then his body dumped in the desert!"

"What?" Sonny looks at Mandy then at Jason, who doesn't move as he already heard all this last night in the emergency briefing they had. "So, what he survived and some scuzz buckets took him, tortured him then killed him?"

"That we don't know. We're only surmising at this point. We need to recover his body and lead the investigation from there!"

"Wait .." Clay frowns as he watches "So do know if they took any of the others? Did any of the others survive the explosion?"

Mandy sighs and shrugs "That's we don't know! As you know we've had difficulties getting access to the site of the explosion. The locals are still very hostile. It's very volatile and sensitive area right now. So, I can't answer that at this time. We need to start by recovering Corporal McIntyre. I am keeping my ear to the ground for any online chatter."

Clay thinks it through "So does that mean Lucas could be alive?"  
He now sees why Damien thought it was best for Ellis to leave. This could have got her hopes up. Clay laughs to himself _Unbelievable did he actually think about her feelings, after everything he'd done to her. _  
  
"The possibilities are there, that all of these men still alive! We're just not sure. This could be a local faction or more organised. Someone must have been reporting that personnel were visiting this location."

"Gentlemen, you need to get yourselves together. For now, this is a body recovery. But there is a real chance, if these men are alive his could become a rescue mission! We just don't know at this point and that will also be part of your task to establish facts. Now, be aware the press are all over this story, so I do not want to give them any headline opportunities, is that clear? Precautions also need to be taken that his could also be a trap .. so, you will proceed with utmost caution. That's why I'm sending both teams. Get yourselves prepped and ready to go. Are there any questions?"

No one asks anything. The room goes silent. Sonny sucks air through his teeth trying to make some sense and Jason closes his eyes thinking.

Clay takes a breath then asks it "Yeah I have one!...What do we tell Ellis?"

Everyone awkwardly looks around thinking about Clay's question till Damien speak up  
"Don't worry about that, I'll speak to her.. You have to understand that's the reason I asked her to leave. I didn't want her finding out in the middle of a briefing that there is the slimmest of chances he might have survived. They were very close."

"Thank you Sargent Major, but i think under the circumstances you can leave that with me!" Sharp interrupts "I'll speak with her."  


Jason looks up "I'm sure Commander Blackburn could handle it, Sir. After all she is US personnel"

"Are you questioning my ability to speak sensitively, Master chief Hayes? I'm sure we already had this discussion regarding my orders. Seems to me, your team may have some discipline issues from the top down!"

"No Sir! I wasn't questioning your ability. If it came across that way then I apologise" Jason backs down. He covers his mouth with is hand and in a low whisper _"Asshole!"_

Sharpe hears him, well to be honest so do the room, but everyone makes out they didn't.  
  
Eric coughs breaking the tense atmosphere "Alright gentlemen! Wheels up in two hours make your preparations ... you'll need to get your requirements to Baxter and myself, any further questions you'll address them to me in the first instance. Are we clear?"

"Yes Sir!!"

They all get up to leave. Sonny and Ray first out followed by the air service team , then Bravo start to file out.

"Master Chief, ..." Sharpe calls out "...Petty officer Spenser, could you please wait!"

_Oh shit!_ Clay and Jason look at each other. Eric looks up from his paperwork "Is there a problem Sir?"

"I would like to have a word regarding some discipline issues!"

"Sir, I think you made the issues clear. It won't happen again!" Jason stands to attention in front of him.

"Master chief, I've asked you to wait. Now do me the courtesy of not questioning my intentions. Commander Blackburn could I have a moment outside?"

"Sir!"

Damien gathers his papers smirking at Clay. He's enjoying imagining the roasting he's about to get

"You got a problem?" Clay frowns at him

"Me? No, I don't have a problem. You on the other hand .. just might!" He smirks again

Clay dismisses him "You really are an ass!"

Jason speaks to Damien "Jeez is this guy for real?"  
  
Damien smiles "Who Sharpe? Yeah he always been a stickler for rules, doesn't like anyone stepping out of line! Hey Jason, word of advice, just keep your head down, apologise to everything he says and for god sake keep your boy in line! What he's up to...well, he's stepping on some really big toes!"

"What Spenser, why what the hell's he done? ... I mean yeah sure the kid can get a little bit out line with his mouth at times but.."

"Look Jason, I like you so friendly warning .." he coughs "..I think the err mmm..._interest_ getting shown to our logistics personnel, well it err mm... ruffling a few feathers! Let's just say others like to take an interest in her. If you get what I'm saying. Maybe you need to haul his arse back into line!"

"What....you think Spenser and Ellis?" Jason frowns as Damien shrug's "I'm just calling it as I see it! But if I've noticed it, then someone else most definitely has! You need to be on your best behaviour here, Sharpe is not one to mess with!" he pats Jason on the shoulder "Good luck!"  
  
_Shit!_ Jason sighs thinking of the mess they could now be in. He looks around the room as Sharpe is still outside in conversation with Eric. "Clay, just keep your mouth shut, alright! Just let me do the talking and don't trying to answer back!"

"What the hell? I didn't do anything!"

"No, I know that. Trouble is he doesn't!"

"Master chief!" the room is finally empty apart from Clay and Jason "Do we have a discipline problem here with Bravo?"

"No Sir"

"No sir. Well it doesn't seem that way to me. Now you need your team to shape up because I'd hate you to be a man down this soon into an operation."

"Sir, I'm sorry but I'm not following. Did we do something wrong?"

"Petty officer Spenser could you wait outside"  
Clay doesn't say a word exactly as Jason told him, he does roll his eyes and sigh. Though it's so loud Jason wishes he hadn't.

As the door closes Sharpe turns to face Jason. "Fraternization Master Chief" he stops and looks Jason right in the eyes "Do you know what that is and why the military frowns on it?"

Jason swallows hard he's wondering what's coming now. Has he been found out? He cautiously answers "Yes, Sir, of course Sir!"

"Well it's something I don't tolerate, not while I'm in command!"

Jason nearly chokes. Oh, how badly does he want to call _bullshit_ on that statement, knowing what he knows, but he can't he just has to keep quiet.  
"Sir I'm not sure I'm following!"

"Something's come to my attention. One of your team, seem rather taken by the logistics operator on this joint operation. I need it reigning in!"  
He stops and stares hard at Jason wondering just how much explanation he'll need before his meaning is clear. "Do I need to make it clearer that she is off limits. Because I will not hesitate to discipline, if I think that rule is being breached. It will not matter _who_ or what position that person holds."  
  
He pauses again still staring right through Jason who's agitated now "Examples need to be set Master Chief. Take Mr Spenser, he seems to lack discipline at times, use him as an example to the others. I will let it go this time, due to his immaturity, and the fact it was brought to my attention, he's very good operator, so on this occasion I'll leave it to your discretion. But make sure he understands I will not tolerate insubordination. There will _not_ be any second chances, for anyone. I will use all the tools at my disposal if this issue comes to my attention again! Do we understand each other Master Chief Hayes?"

"Sir I really think, you know, you've got this wrong. I don't think Clay...."

"Master chief, I'm not asking you to think. I gave you a request and I expect it to be followed. Was that not clear?"

"Sir, perfectly clear. I understand."

"Good! I hope_ you_ do!"

Sharpe opens the door.  
"You can come in now. Mr Spenser" he holds the door open "Ive spoken with your commanding officer and I've given him authority to deal with this matter, but be warned, I won't tolerate it again and it will be me you'll be dealing with should you come to my attention again. Master Chief I would suggest you and your team find other ways to entertain themselves during this deployment."

Clay has no idea what he's talking about and is just about to question but he notices Jason behind shaking his head. He frowns and swallow that confusion back inside "Yes Sir!"

"Good, I'm glad we got that matter cleared up!...Now, let's go and bring Corporal McIntyre home."

Jason leans on the table stretching his legs back behind him, letting out a huge long sigh of the breath that he just held!  
_Shit_! He runs his hand over his face, taking another breath his head trying to work out what to do.

"I have no idea what that was about!" Clay frowns "But.. I'm getting the vibe that it's not good?"

"No, Clay, not good...not good at all!"


	23. You are so out of here!

She's paced for long enough, just trying to cool her anger, but now she takes a deep breath, not even thinking about what she's doing as she knocks hard on the door.

"Come!" Bennett looks up from his desk "Ellis!" he frowns a little disturbed by the scowl on her face "This is an unexpected _surprise_. Can I do something for you?"

"Yeah! ...Yeah, you can get me my job back in stores!"

"Sorry, what!" he laughs out loud "Err mm ... I don't understand, you want to come back?" his forehead furrows as he narrows his eyes trying to understand this sudden turn of events "Why do you want to come back to stores, Ellis what's happened?"

"Whatever this bullshit is you pulled to get me that TACLOG position, take it back... I don't want it." She sighs deeply letting her frustration out "I don't know, tell them you need me back, something's gone wrong, Wes and Miller are fucking up. I don't care just do it!"

"Fucking up! ... Yeah you could say that! Do you know how many issues I've had so far this week? So, yes you coming back is a great idea!"

"Right, that's settled I'll start back in the morning then. So err mm... you'll sort telling them, or shall I just go tell them they can stick it!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!... Whilst this seems a great idea, and it would make _my_ life so much easier, it's not gonna happen!"

"Well make it happen! Look, you just said you needed me back."

"Yeah I was joking, well not joking, but even if I wanted you back ... which I do, I can't!"  
He continues to frown but now he feels like he should apologise, he's not sure why but he knows something serious must have happened for her to be making this request. 

She frowns, a wave confusion coming over her "Why can't you? I want to come back.... Maxwell, you did this, so just undo it!"  
  
  
He lets out a long sigh, standing up and coming around to the front of his desk   
"Ellis, I would love you to come back, really, and whatever it is that's pissed you off, I'm sorry. But I can't undo it, because I didn't do it in the first place!"  
  


She stands frowning at him "You said you signed off on this, that it was so you would look at my other applications to get out of this hell hole"

"In the strict sense, then yes I signed the paperwork off but... I didn't have a lot of choice. It wasn't me who requested you be assigned the TACLOG position."

"If you didn't then who did?" she frowns, staring at him as he awkwardly shifts position on the edge of the desk.   
But then he doesn't have to say it because a realisation comes over her. _Ryan!_ she takes a deep breath "Sharpe did this, didn't he?"

Bennett nods "Ellis, I don't know what you did..... but he was insistent and ...." he trails off hesitating knowing she's not going to like it. 

"And? ... And what?... Maxwell, please tell me!"

He sighs, hesitant to say but in the spirit of being honest it feels right to tell her. "And, your applications for the other positions and leave transfer request. He err mm ...he asked me to file them!"

"File them?" those lines on her forehead deepen as she works her way through the confusion of wondering "What the hell does that mean? ...File them where?"

"Put them at the bottom of the file and leave them there!"

"What! But why?.... Why would you do that?"

"Ellis he's practically in command of this whole base so if he asks for something I think you'll find most people, especially juniors like me well we...we tow the line and do it!"  
  


She stands not saying anything, the look of disappointment on her face "Fuck!... I'll fuckin' kill him!"

Bennett stands up from where he's sitting , this intense worried frown set into his forehead "Whoa! Now just calm down!" He's actually a little concerned by the tone she uses, and as much as he tries to reason she wouldn't actually kill one of the base commanders, this is Ellis, and she does seem to be raging about something. "Ellis, what the hell is going on?"

"Nothing!" she smiles now her demeanor changes as a quiet acceptance comes over her that she'll have to sort this problem herself "Sorry, bad day ... just forget I even said anything!" she smiles at him trying to reassure him "It's fine, I'll deal with it!"  
  
"Ellis are you alright?" He stares at her trying to work her this worried frown on his face " Look, I know it must be difficult with Lucas and what's happened, maybe you should take some time out?"

She laughs. "What and sit around this place doing nothing? Yeah that sounds a great idea!....I'm sorry to have disturbed you. I ... I need to go." she sighs again and heads to the door before she exits she turns back "Maxwell..... thanks."  
She's not actually sure why she's thanking him, but she knows this wasn't his fault and he does genuinely look bothered that she's upset. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She's kicking the sand, talking and swearing to herself as she walks back to her bunk. _I'm not going back! Fuck them. They don't need me! I know this is about Lucas so why can't they just say it!_

Miller passes her as she crosses the base "Hey Ellis!" he calls   
  
She looks around, she wasn't paying attention but hears her name "Oh Miller!... Hey how's it going?"

"Yeah good! What are you doing? I only ask because I think people were looking for you! Did you know Sharpe, of all people, came to the stores and asked Wes if he knew where you were. Did you do something wrong?"

She laughs the fact that the first thing he thinks is she must have done something. Usually true but not on this occasion   
"No!" she smiles " err mm Miller... tell Wes it's okay, it's nothing to worry about. I'll...I'll find Sharpe and sort it. Thanks!"   
She has no intention of finding him, in fact she has every intention of not being found, at least for a while _  
No! if they don't need me at the briefing then they don't need me now! I won't beholden to their requests _"Let him kick my ass out of here if he's so bothered!" 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She gets back to her bunk and shuts the door "_Fuuuuccckkk!! Arrgghhhh!..... God damn assholes!!!!_" she screams so loud in frustration that she thinks her lungs might burst.  
Then she stops. Taking a breath, gathering her emotions.   
  
Her phone vibrates again.   
It hasn't stopped vibrating since she left Bennett's office. Missed calls from Jason, from Wes, from Sharpe. Messages and voicemails.   
She switches it off. "Fuck you!... Fuck all of you!"  
  
She feels under her bed and pulls out one of the bottles of tequila and takes a glass off the side, it's not clean but she doesn't care as she fills it with some of the golden liquid, then takes a large sip "Uurrrghh!...Uhh!"  
She looks at the contents, somehow drinking, warm, tequila in the daytime feels way worse than in the cool of the evening, but the way she feels, she doesn't care.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Arrghhhh!"  
She lays on her bed. Her head spinning "Fuck!!!" She can hardly open her eyes as she squints at the window; the sun is low in the glass. "What the hell!" She looks herself over, she's still in her uniform.  
She's hot and sweating so she takes her camo shirt off just leaving a white vest top as she lays back. She's too stiff to move, but that might be due to the position her head was in on the pillow.  
  
She looks down beside the bed at the bottle of tequila that's knocked over on the floor "Oh... shit!" she sighs as she rubs her head _What the hell have I done!_   
  
She looks at her phone the screen blank from where she turned it off and as she turns it back on it vibrates continuously with missed calls, more messages and voice mails. She sighs as she sees them all _Too much to deal with right now! All I want to know is the time. _  
  
The last message showing Jason   
_Where are you? I'm leaving now. Please call me in the next few minutes x _

She hits the play on the voicemails _Ryan!_ "Ellis I need to speak to you! ......Ellis I need to speak but I'm headed to a meeting will find you when I'm finished!... Ellis please will you return my call!.....   
Ellie, where the fuck are you? She laughs _Ellie where the fuck are you! Yeah that's about right!_

She frowns. Clay message: Are you okay?

They were relentless but as she looks at the time she realises the reason, somehow she'd gone from early morning to very late afternoon   
"Shit!!!" She takes a breath. "I need to walk this off!"  
  
It felt such a good idea at the time, if she remembers correctly, but now it doesn't feel quite so great. Now it feels like a nightmare as she realises potentially how much trouble she's going to be in. _Christ! I've missed an entire mission! Not good Ellis!   
_"Oh well.... they didn't want me there anyway they asked me to leave so ..."

She gets herself up. Her head is throbbing.   
She thinks about having another drink and just passing out again but as she looks at the picture of Lucas on her phone he's shouting at her telling her "_To get the hell up! Sort yourself out Ellis! Get with the programme girl!_"   
  
She takes a deep breath in holding back all the emotion welling tearfully in her eyes "God I miss you so much!" She wipes the one tear that manages to escape from her eye and roll down her cheek before running her hand over her face "I need some air!" She sighs and gets up, staggering out into orange glow of the final setting sun. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She stands watching as the helos arrive back. This heavy frown starts to indent on her forehead   
"Oh my god!" she realises it's Alpha squadron and BRAVO coming back.  
  
She lets out a long sigh as she jogs, well more a fast walk. Her legs feel like lead it's the effects of tequila still impacting on her muscles, as she makes her way to the 'viewing area' or that's what her and Wes call it, the area where they wait for supplies to come in.   
Close enough to see the helos but far enough to not get hit by the dust when they land.  
  
She watches now as the Teams start to unload from the aircraft. Bravo talking to the members of Alpha.   
She swallows hard as she looks around to the opposite side of her where she can see Wes and Miller checking some crates.   
She puts her hand up, watching them, and they acknowledge her. The fact that they don't come over to chat means they must be busy. She laughs continuing to watch them, Miller and Wes only stopping every now and then to argue about something. Wes standing over the smaller Miller till whatever it is he relents.   
She laughs._ Whatever they're doing it looks like Bennett's kicked their ass's for sure!_  
  
She stops watching and turns her attention back to the unloading helos, as she does she catches a glimpse of what she missed, a coffin being loaded on to the back of a truck. She stands up for a better view "What the hell! ... Oh God!"   
Her breath stops for a moment while she stares as the truck _Was this what they were trying to keep from me? That they were bringing Lucas's body back!_ _Why is there only one coffin _"Oh God there's only one coffin!" the panic inside her rises.   
  
_Ellis you are so stupid sometimes!_ She berates herself for drinking, for passing out, for not going back to find out what was going on.   
"Oh no!.....No, no!" the panic rises and rises inside. Her stomach turning over. She feels sick and wonders for a moment if she might throw up because all her worst fears now become a stark reality. 

She starts walking, no idea why but she has to get to that truck and see for herself. Leaving her position she starts the walk across the flight area towards the helos. She's not focusing, not really looking, just walking "Oh God!"   
She alternates between holding her breath to big panting sighs as she continues to walk, speeding up now as the truck starts to slowly move.

As she gets closer the tears start to roll down her cheeks as the reality of the situation dawns on her "No! .... No, no, no!" she sobs and sighs. The pain in her stomach pulling at her, aching , it hurts so much. "Lucas!!" she starts to call out "NO!!! ...Lucas!!" her face now flooded with tears. Blinding her.

They hear her. The truck crews, the flight engineers the Teams, as she gets closer they hear her calling "Lucas!" mixed with her sobs of pain.   
Damien turns from unloading his kit and he sees the coffin on the truck driving away and her, her walking faster, blinkered towards it.   
  
She doesn't see the vehicles zooming about but he does "Oh, shit Ellis!.... Ellis NO!"  
He sees her walking, picking up pace to a jog. And he sees the refueling truck. She doesn't.   
He sees her face, the realisation what she's thinking and runs towards her. "Ellis!!!" he calls her but she's so focused, so intent on getting to that truck that she's become deaf and blind to everything around her. "ELLIS!!! ... No, it's okay! ... Ellis, STOP!!"

Everyone turns it's like something in slow motion. She puts her hand to her mouth trying not to breath in the dust and the sand. Trying to see and to breathe through her crying. "LUCAS!!!!" She screams out.

Wes and Miller hear her scream. Just as Damien gets to her and pulls her out the way of the refuel vehicle and she starts to collapse in his arms in the sand.   
Her tears and partial drunkenness blinding her, the ache in her stomach too much to bear.   
She sinks down as Damien has hold of her "Ellis it's not Lucas!" He grabs her just before her legs give way "Ellis.... it's not...it's not him!" he wraps his arms round her "It's okay, I've got you!"  
  
He grabs her holding her tight as she sobs. He holds the side of her head "Ellis, look at me it's not Lucas!!"  
  
She nods, as she snaps back into reality. Putting her hands to her face covering it, sucking in her tears. She can't breathe except for little anxious, panicked pants but she starts to understand what he's saying.   
He can smell the alcohol on her and wants to check she registers what he's saying. He takes hold of her wrists to take her hands away from her face so that he can look at her but as he does it's like someone slapped her sober in front of him.   
That action of him holding her wrists tight in his hands it snaps Ellis back and she forgets about the truck she just stares at his hands round her wrist _What's happening?   
_Her breathing quickens "Get off me!!" she panics " I SAID GET YOUR HANDS-OFF ME!!!!!" she screams at him as he's holding her. She pulling at his hands getting him to let go of her "GET OFF!!!"

Wes looks up from the crates they're unloading "Oh shit!!" He drops his clipboard and runs, runs so fast, he's over as Damien is struggling with her, trying to hold her.   
  
"Ellis, calm the fuck down!" As she tries to push him away, screaming like a mad woman for him to get off!  
  
Clay and Jason turn around they see the scene unfolding as Clay spots Wes running " Oh God!!" it's almost like he knows the thoughts going through Wes's head.  
  
"Get your hands the hell off her!!" Wes calls out

"Hey!!!" Clay calls out "Hey .. leave her alone!"

Jason and Ray look at each other confused "Clay wait!" it's too late Clay starts to run, just as he does Wes takes a swing at Damien, hitting him clean on the jaw   
  
"Fuck!! You idiot!!..... I'm not touching her! For God sake she thought it was Lucas, I was just telling her it's not him!" Damien has let her go and she drops to her knees in the sand, it's all too much for her to cope with.   
Wes pushes Damien away and as he does the punch comes in slow motion, but as Damien makes the swing he gets an almighty shove in the chest as Clay gets between his fist and Wes "Get the hell away!"

"What the hell!" he glares at Clay "I'm not the bad guy here. He took a swing at me first!" Damien stands his ground looking at Clay

"You get your dirty hands off her!"   
  
Damien keeps staring and watching Clay's reaction, weighing him up "Oh!.....Oh I get it now. Looks like someone's been telling stories!" he laughs out loud. "You know something, shes not worth this bullshit!" he looks at Clay "Have her ... but you're playing a very dangerous game, I can assure you. Sharpe won't stand for this!"

"What?" Clay looks at him "Go to hell, and yes,.... I know what you did!"  
  
Wes swallows hard "Clay ...Clay, just leave it!" he looks at Ellis on the floor "Come on let's get you up!"  
She nods wiping her face, all the grief and anger she's stored up all this time, mixed with too much tequila causes it to pour out and punch her right in the gut.

Clay pushes Damien again "I know what you did!"

Damien laughs at him "Oh, you do!" Damien smiles again "Well, I think you'll find she says different!" He laughs again, smirking at Clay unbothered by him "Ask her! Ask her why she didn't report me then if you're so sure!" he laughs even more now "You need to keep in mind that you're only keeping her warm for someone else!"

"What the hell!" Clay shoves him back "You really are a piece of shit!" as Damien smirks again Clay totally loses it and thumps him full in the face and in the next move they're on the floor fighting.

"Oh, shit!!" Jason, Sonny and Ray run over as Sonny pulls Clay back and Jason has hold of Damien "What the hell's going on here? " he frowns "Clay you wanna start explaining?"

"YOU TWO!!!! ....My office NOW!" The words come out of nowhere as Group Captain Sharpe steps from his jeep and stands there in front of them with his arms folded.

"Shit!" Jason looks round "Clay just calm down, alright!"

"Jason ...." now Clay stumbles with his words. Tied about what he can, against what he wants to say "He's an asshole! He deserves what he gets...he's not some nice guy like he makes out!"

"MR Spenser! Am I speaking to myself or what?"

"Run along Damien smirks at him "Oh and I wouldn't tell him you're screwing his bit on the side ...he definitely won't like that!"

"What?" Clay stares at him confused, first because he's not _screwing her _and also, because he didn't know that Ellis and Sharpe were even a thing.   
"I'm not! .. Wait, seriously that's what you think!?" he turns and looks at Jason, he swallows hard wondering what the hell he should say now. Why would they think it's him "No!.. No, you have it all wrong it's not me...."

"Clay shut the fuck up!" Jason scowls at him "Just keep quiet, I'll sort this!"

Damien smiles again "But Clay... remember it's not me you have to tell!" he turns and looks at Sharpe " But he is going to be harder to convince! And you know what.....you are so out of here!"


	24. Wrong member of Bravo

"Jason what the hell's going on?" Blackburn is over beside him; this is the last thing he needs today, after being without his logistics operator for a whole mission he now has the two teams fighting!   
And there was him thinking with Jason and Damien getting on that this was going to be easy, but now he has to deal with Clay.

"I don't know!" Jason swallows hard, he can foresee there being major problems now "I better go with Clay!"

"No,you wait here, I'll go! I don't want you and Sharpe going head to head again like the last briefing" Eric looks at him, staring sternly "Jason. A word,....in private!" They step to the side out of earshot "I need to ask this ...is there something going on?.... with Clay and Ellis Baxter."

"No!" He says it sharp and curt, dismissing it out of hand. "No, nothing. Eric, are you serious?"  
  
"Are you sure, or are you covering for him?" Blackburn looks around "You know I've been hearing a lot of rumors...about BRAVO and err mm... I don't like to add fuel to them, but there are a lot of rumors about her reputation for this sort of thing."  
  
Jason shakes his head "No!.... Eric,I promise there's nothing going on with Clay!"

"So what the hell's that all about?"   
  
"I don't know" Jason lets out an exasperated sigh "but I will sort it, don't worry!"  
  
"I'm am worried. I got cake eaters all over me on this. You screw up, I gotta nowhere to go! Buck stops with me this time. BRAVO need to clean up their act, we're getting way too much attention from Sharpe and that's never good!"

"Okay, I'm on it! Best behavior from now on. Promise!"  
  
Blackburn takes a deep sigh he's yet to be convinced, but Jason needs to do something, get them out of the spotlight and he needs to do it fast!

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Ellis is sobbing into Wes's chest. Jason stands over them, he coughs interrupting   
"You need anything?" he looks at Wes he's not sure why he's asking there's not much he can physically do not with Eric standing there watching.   
He wants to be the one holding her, giving her comfort but he can't, but the feeling is there. 

Wes looks around and shakes his head "No, I'm good, I got this!"   
Wes suddenly has this compelling feeling to protect her. She's his friend not theirs and he doesn't want any of them getting near. If he was honest, at this moment, he feels a pang of jealousy because given a choice he knows it's Jason she'd rather be clinging to.  
  
Jason nods. He's not thinking now, and he squats down beside them and brushes her hair back from her face. "Ellis"   
She looks back at him, her tear stained face staring back and he just wants to hold her so much, and fix the hurt he can see breaking her heart. "It's not Lucas." He sighs as if some how that's supposed to make it all better when it won't. "It was one of the other guys, a British guy, McIntyre! I'm so sorry, Sharpe was supposed to speak with you before we got back."

She nods her head accepting, trying to stuff all her emotions back in the box she'd had them locked in since the explosion, pretending everything was okay, carrying on as normal. But the stress of today was too much and the lid came off and everything spilled out.  
  
"I'm okay!" she tries to smile and reassure him "Just been a bad day, it all got a bit much, I'll be fine!" she looks at Wes "I just need some time, get myself together!" 

"Okay , well if you want anything you know where I am!" he takes a deep breath and looks around Blackburn's still there waiting "I better go! I need to sort Clay and this mess out!"

She rubs her head "Jason.... " she puts her hand on his arm stopping him "Don't worry .. I'll sort it, about Clay I mean. I'll speak to Ryan" Jason frowns at her "Sharpe... I mean. I'll speak to him, straighten it out!"

Jason's taken a back for a moment hearing her call Sharpe by his first name, if he's honest it stings, it's as if they suddenly became something real, like suddenly they became a couple. That can now imagine things about them, and he doesn't like it. "Yeah ummm... " He coughs "...don't worry, I'm sure it can all be straightened out without involving you."

She smiles she sees he's the look on his face and she can tell he's not happy, but she also know, even if Jason won't admit it, that it will probably take her intervention to sort this out. That probably the only one Sharpe will listen to is her though, she's not even sure if she may have burned all her bridges where he's concerned now.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Wes opens the door to her bunk. She takes a deep tired sigh. The remaining effects of the tequila mixed with her emotions are still playing havoc in her head.

She strips off her boots and combats, leaving her wearing just her black pantie shorts and white vest top as Wes puts her in bed. She wraps her arms round him as he holds her. "Just get some sleep!" he kisses the top of her head.

"Wes!....Stay! Please?!" She kisses him wrapping her hand in his hair.   
  
"Ellis, don't, not tonight, just go to sleep!"

" Wes, please!"

"No!" he's short and sharp with his answer then he softens "Ellis, no!" he brushes her hair back "This is not what you want, just go to sleep!"   
He picks up the lid to the tequila bottle and seals it, standing it up on the table. "You got anymore of this anywhere?"

"No!" she shakes her head, tears now rolling down her cheek shes not sure if its emotion or Wes being harsh, rejecting her.   
  
"Good!" he lets out an exhausted sigh as he sits holding her to his chest.   
Her breathing's deep as she looks up again, taking his chin in her hand, planting a really soft, lingering kiss on his lips.   
For a moment, he kisses her back. He wants it, the kiss. If he were honest he wants her, because like her he wants to be with someone holding him close.   
Seeing that coffin and her upset, it's hit him emotionally too and now here like this, like in the past, he could so easily give into her, but he won't because he knows she'll regret it and that tomorrow in the cold light of day this won't seem such a good idea, because he knows it's Jason she really wants.   
Any other girl and he wouldn't care less, he'd cross that boundary and not worry but with Ellis he won't do it to her, because he knows her too well and this is not what she wants, even if she thinks it is.   
So, he settles for leaning back against the wall holding her and they both close their eyes to sleep.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She wakes. Rubbing her aching head.  
It feels late. She picks up her phone and checks the time and then she realises it's not, that she's only been asleep for about three hours, but at least now she doesn't feel so tired.  
"Ten pm" she sighs. _It feels later!_

  
She smiles as she notices Wes has left her some water and Tylenol on the floor beside her phone. She sits round, her legs over the edge of the bed as she takes the pills and sips at the water.   
  
As she looks up she can make out Wes, his floppy black hair and tanned bare back in the bed opposite. His legs and arms wrapped around a sleeping Mandy. She smiles to herself, glad that Wes has someone to be there for him.   
  
She lets out another deep sigh while she sits thinking. She watches as Wes turns over. He opens his eyes staring at her   
"You okay?" he quietly mouths frowning while he watches her.

She nods "Yeah, I'm good" she smiles at him getting off her bed and sitting herself on the floor beside him, leaning her head back on the edge of his bed, as he starts to stroke her hair while she takes her taking hold of his hand  
"I'm fine. Go back to sleep" she sighs "I think I'm gonna go get some air. Give you some privacy" she smiles at him leaning her head against him.   
They sit peaceful for a while both reflecting on the day " You know I really thought it was him, that they brought back... I kinda hoped it was, Wes, is that wrong?"

Wes sighs "No, no I don't think so. We both just want some peace and to have him back!"

"Yeah!" She wipes another stray tear from her cheek and gets up from the floor, finding herself some shorts she pulls them on, not bothering with any shoes, the sand will be cooler under her feet now that the sun has gone down.

As she leaves, she makes a quick check on Wes, seeing Mandy stir , watching him as he wraps himself back around her tighter. Kissing her neck, as she pulls his arm round holding his hand. Ellis smiles glad he's so content its a nice thing to watch. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

As she steps out into the cool she closes her eyes taking a moment to gather herself. As she opens them again she can make out the dark silhouette of Jason outside his bunk, sat on the steps, drinking from the beer bottle in his hand.  
He hears her door click and looks over, making her out in the evening artificial light. 

She smiles, hands in her shorts pockets, she checks around before she casually wanders over to him.

"Hey!" he looks up from where he's seated on the wooden steps.

"Hey" she awkwardly smiles back, scuffing her feet back and forward in the sand, feeling slightly embarrassed from her meltdown earlier.

"You okay now?" he frowns at her

She's silent running her hand through her hair as her eyes fill with tears again. She shakes her head "No, I don't think I am!" she swallows wiping her cheek "Sorry!....Shit day, you know!"

"Yeah!" he lets out a long sigh and takes a sip of his beer "Shit day.... I know!"   
  


She takes a breath she can tell he's not really in the mood for conversation "So Clay alright .. I mean did you straighten it all out with Sharpe?"

"No!" he throws the beer top down into the sand "No, Sharpe's keeping him in the cooler over night!"

"What?!... But why?"

Jason shrugs "You tell me!... Teach him a lesson,I guess. Clay's problem is he can't keep his smart-ass mouth shut!"

She swallows hard "I don't understand. I mean he's got no reason to dislike Clay, has he?"

"He thinks we've got a discipline problem!" he looks up, her registering his disapproval "Guess this is him teaching me who's in control! To get my team in line! God he's such an ass!"   
  
He looks at her watching her as she awkwardly kicks the sand around with her feet in front of her. She doesn't really know what to say. He laughs "What the hell did you even see him anyways?"

She takes a deep breath "Jason please don't!" She can see him keep watching her, looking for an answer.   
"I don't know ... " she shrugs lost for words, lost for an answer that doesn't sound wrong "I...I know its hard to believe but he can be really charming, and his accent, the way he talks!" she laughs trying to dismiss the question but he's still silent, still watching her, still looking for some reason because he can't see why she would like a guy like Sharpe.  
She shrugs again " Oh I don't know, we just sort of clicked!...Jason please don't do this, not tonight!"

He's riled now, pissed off by what's happened to Clay,frustrated that he can't do anything to solve the problems his team have and he starts to take it out on her "Were you in love with him?"  
  
She takes a deep breath "I'm not doing this again.... not now! I ll sort it to tomorrow. I promise. I'll get him to leave Clay and BRAVO alone" She swallows hard the lump of annoyed upset in her throat hurting " You know what, I'm gonna go, before one of us says something we might regret. I don't think either of us are in the mood for this!"  
She turns and starts walking away.

"Fuck!" he takes a deep breath "Ellis wait!!! ....I'm sorry, alright, don't go!" She stops where she is "Like you said .. it's been a shit day and I shouldn't take it out on you!"

She smiles and stops where she is, turning around she walks back. He hands her his beer as a gesture "Err... no I'll pass, thanks!" he frowns as she smiles "Let's just say I exceeded my rations for today!" Even the thought of any more alcohol makes her feel like she wants to puke.  
  
She pushes beside him, making him move up for her to sit on the step next to him as she leans her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes, letting out a long sigh. 

"You tired?"

"Kind of ... I don't know, tired of making mistakes, I guess! Do you ever do things that seemed great at the time but further down the line you think that wasn't such a good idea!"

"Yeah all the time!" he laughs

She frowns at him puzzled "Such as what?"  
  
He looks at her brushing her hair back, staring her in the eyes, absorbing how beautiful he thinks she is and running his hand across her face "Such as not fucking you that day in the stores!"  
She frowns and laughs, a blush fills her cheeks "You remember when I got you to try on that bikini!"  
  
She puts her head down still feeling awkward "Yeah, that was kinda stupid on my part" she laughs "I should never have done that!.... God knows what you thought of me!" she bites her lip letting out an embarrassed laugh.

He leans in looking her in the eyes, quickly checking around making sure they're alone "You know what I thought.... I thought was how hot you looked, how much I wanted you"

"Really ?" she frowns laughing "cos you know from where I stood when you walked away .. I _really_ didn't get that feeling!"

"Yeah well that took a lot of self-control, to walk away!"

She laughs again "So, they ummm.... teach you that at BUDS? Self control like that .... cos you might wanna tell them to pull it back a notch. You know.... leave a girl a little less frustrated!"

He smiles "I'll be sure to make that suggestion." he checks around again and kisses her gently on the lips "So, err mm ....So I got you frustrated?"  
  
She nods "A bit!"

"And so what did you do about that frustration?"

"Oh, I err mm ... I can't remember now, exactly, but I think I pissed Mandy off!" He frowns and she runs her fingers on the lines on his forehead " Yeah ummm....I found out she's not so good with my relaxation techniques!" she laughs leaning her head back on his shoulder  
  
He coughs "So you wanna show me some of these relaxation techniques?" He tilts her head staring her in the eyes, teasing her, his look showing her what he wants as he puts his hand on her neck massaging her muscles. "You seem a little tense, maybe you could do with relaxing a bit?"  
  
She gets a little nervous, they're really pushing their luck being sat here like this and she checks around again "Jason, don't! ... Not here, not like this, it's too risky!"

"Hey, no fun without out a little risk.... I remember someone recently telling me that!"

"Yeah well, whoever it was....I shouldn't take any notice, They could get you in trouble because they obviously don't know what they're talking about! " she frowns as he stands up and leaves her sitting there.   
  
Opening the door to his bunk he checks around again, beckoning her inside "You coming?" 

She also looks around, then takes a breath and gets up. She squeezes past him in the doorway and he stops her, pushing his weight against her, trapping her body with his against the door frame. His hand on her cheek as they stand watching each other, lost in each others eyes, as they kiss.  
_"Mmmm!"_ she awkwardly looks round outside again knowing how vulnerable stood here they are to being seen "So you showing me these relaxation techniques or not?"

"Oh hell yeah!" He leans in and kisses her again, pushing her inside his lips locked on hers as he kicks the door shut with his foot. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Well well!" Damien stops walking.   
He was on his way see if Jason wanted a beer, an apology to what's gone on with Clay, getting things with Jason back onside. Doing what Sharpe ordered and "_Sort this bullshit out!"_   
  
But now as he sees what he does he stops where he is in the shadows, folding his arms, leaning against the wall as he watches the scene with Jason and Ellis unfold in front of him .  
_"Hmmm!"_ a smirk of a smile creeps across his face "So, it would seem I accused the wrong member of Bravo then!" He laughs "Oh Ellis....I really hope you know what you're doing!"  
  
  



	25. Be calm!

Jason pushes her back against the wall opposite the door while hastily unbuttoning her shorts and sliding her out of them. Then forcing her arms up he pulls her white vest top, off, up over her head.  
"No bra... I like that!" he smiles  
  
She smiles at him as she leans against the back wall, naked now, except for her black cotton shorts panties, her hand grappling at his belt clasp trying to undo his pants.

"Uhh uh!!" He shakes his head as he smiles at her "I'm teaching you about self-control!"   
  
He leans in kissing her, his mouth firm against hers as she smiles, trying again to undo his belt. She wants him so much now; but he puts his hand on hers and stops her again. "What did I just tell you about self-control!"

She frowns, smiling at him, biting her lip between her teeth teasing him "Self-control, for who?"

He shuts her up again with another firm kiss, his lips taking hers. His tongue and wet mouth showing her just how much he wants her, even if he won't allow her inside his pants right now.   
  
Neither of them is sure who's learning the self-control. He certainly knows it taking all of his for him not to fuck her right now, up against the wall.   
He holds back for a moment as he stands looking at her, his eyes following his hand as he slowly runs it over the curves at her naked body . "Hold on!" he stops everything, and moves away.

"What the hell are you doing?" She frowns as he takes the chair and forces the back of it under the door handle, wedging it there "What's that for?" she laughs

He smiles "Stop Sonny interrupting us!"

"Oh yeah!" she smiles at him "Good idea!" She sighs watching him "Jason,.... come here!" she beckons him towards her.   
After the day she's had she's looking forward to being with him and forgetting about the outside world.  
  
He's still looking her over, his hands loving the feel of her naked flesh.   
She smiles, blushing slightly. She feels the same way she did that day in the stores, when he was clothed, and she was naked. When he'd talked her into taking her bikini off. That first encounter, when she wanted him so badly, when she could hardly control herself, when he made her wait.  
  
Again, she fishes desperately for his belt buckle and still he shakes his head  
"Oh come on Jason!" her voice breathless with anticipation "Don't do this to me!"

He continues shaking his head, saying no, as he locks his mouth to hers, walking her backwards towards the bed. Laying her gently down on her back, staring her in the eyes and brushing her hair away from her cheek so he can see that look of need and lust in her face.   
He takes in every inch of her, drowning in her scent as he kisses her neck "God, I want you so much!"

She smiles kissing him "So, what's the problem? Have me!"

"No! Because I want to do something for you, first!.... I told you, I want you to relax."

She frowns and laughs "Jason I doesn't matter. I just wanna fuck!"

"Sshh!" he quietens her talking by kissing her mouth. Then he works his way down her neck. Firm, tender and needy kisses until he's at the soft roundness of her breast, where he then plants small, gentle butterfly kisses on the skin, working his lips and tongue around in constant small circles.   
His lips so soft with the kisses that he's hardly touching her, but it's just enough promise of much more to come that it stirs a feeling of wet between her legs.   
  
Those kisses become more substantial until it's him that can't hold back, and he wantonly takes her pert nipple in his mouth. Kissing, sucking and teasing her. That firmer touch of his mouth on this delicate part of her body cause her to take a deep sharp intake of breath. The pleasure of expectation flowing and stirring feelings of need in her thighs.   
  
She needs him. She wants him, but he's continuing to tease her. Not giving in to the urgent want he can feel her body demanding.   
She smiles and shivers with the pleasure as his mouth delivers tormenting delight on her senses, whilst his freehand gratifies his own needs with attention on her other breast.   
Softly manipulating, pulling and gently caressing the delicate warm flesh. Giving the occasional nip and tug on her rigid nipple, making her gasp as it hurts, but in a sensual and satisfying way that makes her groan for _"More!"_

He slides his combat clad body between her legs, the rough of the canvas fabric causing a sensation on her skin that adds to the over whelming excitement. It makes her force her hips forward towards him, turning him on as well as her.  
  
He takes a moment as he sits back looking at her lying there, taking his jacket off and throwing it on the chair by the door. She wonders how long it will be before he gives in to her and her constant groans of _"Fuck me!"_  
  
She's aware of the hardness in his pants, because she felt it on the softness of her leg as he moved down the bed between her aching thighs, but so far he's still resisting her, holding back, not giving in, mainly by not letting her touch him.  
  
"So ... you gonna give in yet?" she smiles as she puts her own hand to her breast, now teasing him by touching herself the way that he was moments ago.   
He thinks about it for a moment as he watches her games. Her small hand on her breast touching it, forcing her nipple to peak, pulling and tweaking so much so that he can sense how it feels and it stirs a sexual want for her deep inside him. His feelings of desire are completely overwhelming him but still he resists, because he won't let her touch him, knowing the moment he lets her put his hand on him he will have no choice but to unleash and take her.  
  
"Uh uh! Not yet!"   
He looks her deep in the eyes, watching as his hand finds the soft spot through her cotton panties, that intimate place that begs him most for his touch.

" Oh!!!!" She sucks in a deep breath as he finds it, that special place that turns her on so much, while he continues to mouth kisses on her hard-pert nipple. "Oh god!!! Don't stop!"   
  
She arcs her back forcing herself against his touch as a sudden wave of ecstasy flushes through her, making her hot with longing.   
His touch is getting increasingly firmer, more frantic as his want increases with hers. She closes her eyes, pushing her hips towards him as he works his way down her body with kisses. Down over the taut of her stomach, still womanly but toned just enough.  
" Oh god! ... Jason!!" she shakes her head trying to resist the urge to give in and peak just yet. He looks up at her, watching as she holds, poised on the edge of her orgasm already.  
"Not yet!" he smiles, willing her to not give in "Where's that self-control!"

She smiles again "uhhh! .....uh! Oh god, please...I want you!" she sits up leaning forward kissing him, her desires now exposed.

"I know you do ... but I told you, not yet!" He smiles as he pushes her to lie down and continues to kiss along the edge of the fabric still covering that precious prize of his.   
Sitting back, he gets her to lift herself from the bed so he can remove her panties, sliding them gently down her legs before throwing them on the floor.   
She reaches forward running her hands in the soft of his hair, willing his mouth towards her but him holding back. He wants to watch her, see that look in her face as it flushes with excitement and pleasure.   
She closes her eyes, running the scenario's of what she imagines he's about to do to her. It brings wave after wave of uncontrollable electric pulses to her most intimate parts "Oh fuck!" she closes her eyes "Mmmm!"  
  
He touches and gently strokes the line between her legs that makes her take short pants of breath which are interspersed with various cussing and words of want.   
He pushes her thighs apart so he can gain more control over what he's doing until the soft of his warm lips touch her.

_"Oh yesss!"_ that kiss on her most intimate parts nearly peaks her over the edge, her body is one mess of overly sensitive nerves. Each anticipated touch from him is making her legs shake and hips buck "Oh....please!" she begs, and as his tongue touches her again she gasps in pleasure thinking she might lose her self-control right then _"Ohhhh......."_

BANG, BANG, BANG!!! They both stop as there's the loud thud of a hand on the door!

"Shit!!" She's shocked back from her fantasy world to the real one "Who the hell is that?!"   
  
She panics looking at Jason as he stops. Sitting completely still, exactly where he is, in this compromising position thanking god that he wedged the chair because whoever it is rattles the door handle trying to gain entry.  
"Shhh!" he puts his finger to her lips "Quiet!...Who is it?" He calls out, as they silently listen.

"Jason, you there?... It's Damien. Can I come in?"

"Fuck!" She looks at him panicked

"Ummm.. yeah!... Ummm, hold on!"

"What the hell are you doing?" she mouths quietly, her eyes wide with fear.

"I have to answer it, or he'll wonder what's going on!" His hushed whispered tone is not calming her anxiety in anyway and her heart's racing as she gathers the white bed sheet around her, wrapping herself in it to cover her nakedness as she gets up.   
Standing behind the door, hiding from view, her heart thudding so hard in her chest she's sure they might hear it.  
The handle to the bunk moves again as Damien tries the door "Shit!" Her breathing is deep and quickens

"Sshh!....Just stay calm, it'll be fine. I'll get rid of him! .....Hold up, just coming!" Jason calls again as he moves the chair and opens the door "Hey!...What's up?"

"Something wrong with the door?" Damien frowns

"Oh no.. I just put the chair there.... It stops Sonny keep pranking me!" he laughs

"Oh okay .. I thought maybe you were busy!" he smiles and winks "You know there's a surplus of cute fillies on this base and it's ...ummm... one of the perks of being special operators we get prime pick!" he winks again

Jason laughs nodding "No, nothing as exciting as that ...just sleepin'!"

"You fancy a beer?" he holds up the four pack up "You know my way of apologising for the way things kicked off today, with Clay, and all that. Emotions got slightly out of hand and you know, ..... I'd like to apologise. It should never have happened!"

"You know I think I'll give the beer a miss, but apology is accepted! I'll catch you up tomorrow" He goes to shut the door.

"Oh, come on!" Damien puts his hand on it to stop him " Look, we don't have to go anywhere, we could stay here. Kick back as you Americans say!" he smiles

"Err mm ... " Jason thinks, wondering what to do. He desperately wants to get back to Ellis, to what they were doing, but, he needs to get rid of Damien. "You know what, now I'm up, I could actually do with some air. Why don't we take a walk?.... I'll get my jacket!"

"Oh well, if you insist. I didn't want to keep you from anything ,important." he smirks waiting at the bottom of the steps while Jason gets his jacket.

"No, it's fine I was just laying down on the bed!"

Ellis smiles to herself the innuendo Jason's making while she's wishing Damien away.   
Jason grabs his jacket from the floor and puts it on. He smiles at Ellis; she's still wrapped in the sheet behind the door. Her adrenaline is making her shake, that and the chill from the cool night air.   
"Hey, it's fine!" he whispers as he leans in and kisses her. "I won't be long! Stay right here...and hold these thoughts!" he smiles at her and she smiles back "Because when I come back there's gonna be no more self-control!"  
  
She puts her head down blushing at the thought "You better hurry then!" she mouths to him. She wants to laugh so much at the situation, but she can't because this is serious, if Damien gets a whiff of what's going on she knows it will be game over for both of them.  
  


He closes the door and she leans her head back. Taking a big sigh of relief. _Phewwww! God how close was that!_  
  
She lays back down in the bed, smiling to herself looking at the sheet wrapped round her and thinking about what he was doing before they were interrupted.   
She picks her phone up from the floor checking the time and her messages then she gets this naughty, devilish glint in her eye as she unwraps herself from the sheet and takes a quick snap of her naked body which she then sends to Jason's phone  
* please hurry, this girl is in urgent need of attention x *

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

Jason and Damien walk. The evening air is cool and slowly the heat and stiffness in Jason's pants starts to subside, though he doesn't think it will completely go until he's satisfied himself making love to Ellis.

"Look Jason, I just wanted to say I'm sorry about today, what happened with Clay. I will sort it out with him and I'm sorry Sharpe's being such an arsehole about it! I guess he's flexing his muscles, putting us operators back in our boxes. He's always been like that, once you cross him it's hard work to undo it !"

"What the hell was all that with Clay anyway? I couldn't get anything out of him "

"Oh, I don't know. I think it was because Ellis freaked out. To be honest I think it all got to her today. And Wes .... well he was just being oversensitive because she was screaming so much. Too be honest it all just became one over-reactionary mess!" he laughs.   
"The funny thing is I can't imagine Clay being able to handle a wild thing like her. You know she needs more of a firm hand to tame her. Clay just doesn't seem that type!"

Jason frowns at they grab a table and sit down "I don't know. I hadn't thought about it! You know there isn't anything going on with her and Clay!!"

"Really?" he frowns at Jason "Oh. I thought it was kind of obvious, and the fact he gets on with her playboy side kick, I mean usually Wes doesn't take to anyone!"   
Damien drinks his beer watching Jason for a reaction "So, you didn't consider getting in there first? I mean, I would have said she seems more suited to your style!"

Jason frowns at him not answering

"Still.... I pity anyone stupid enough to go there. They're only putting themselves in the firing line, as Clay is now finding out!" Damien looks away smirking to himself while he drinks from his bottle

"What do you mean by that?"

He looks back staring Jason in the eye "Oh don't tell me you haven't noticed!" He laughs "Group Captain Sharpe! .... Oh, come on Jason!! You're a tier one operator I thought you could suss out these situations?" he laughs again "Sharpe. He's all over her like a rash, always has been!"

Jason frowns more deeply now. Intrigued by Damien's revelations. He's eager for more details of Ellis and Sharpe's relationship, but at the same time not sure he really does want to know. "Really! So how'd that happen? I mean, he made it clear to me he didn't stand for that sort of thing "

"Oh" Damien laughs, choking on his beer "What Sharp says and what he does, two entirely separate things!" he sighs "But I don't really know how, just all I know is last time we were here on deployment, I found out. You know she used to do TACLOG before. Think that's when Sharpe took a shine to her. But as I say I don't know how it started"

"You were here before?"

"Yeah!....Just like you on a three-month deployment" Damien smiles, he knows he's pushing Jason's buttons now, getting him thinking.

Jason's phone bleeps distracting his attention. He smiles as he opens the message, the picture of her naked body. He sips his beer as Damien watches the amusement in his face

"Something funny?"

"Err mmm ...no!" Jason dismisses him "Look, thanks for the beer. I think I'm gonna head back, get some sleep!"

"Oh no. Stay! Please! Look, the others are here now. Let's make it look like we made an effort to put today behind us, or .....you got something on the boil?" he smiles frowning " Some piece of totty stashed in your bunk, maybe?"

"No!" Jason laughs dismissively "No! I guess on another won't hurt. Okay I'll have another beer with you"   
He sighs checking Ellis's text again as Sonny Ray and Trent all sit down at the table with some of the guys from alpha squadron.

"How's Clay?" Sonny frowns "You know that kid doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut sometimes!"

"I don't know, Eric checked on him, but Sharpe told them to hold him over night, don't ask! And you're right, Sonny, he needs to keep it zipped, especially where Sharpe's concerned!"

"Yes, he does. If it's any consolation I got a complete dressing down too! But you do need to get him in check his attitude. If he gets BRAVO in Sharpe's firing line, he'll be all over you for everything. You need to tread carefully because I warn you, Sharpe's not someone you want mess with! His rank pulls a lot of weight"  
Damien stands up "I need to pee ..." he smiles "...get me another beer. I'll be right back!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Ellis laughs at Jason's dirty text reply. _Oh my god!_ she smiles as she sends a response back *Don't be long then. Not sure my self control will hold out much longer! ;) * 

She leans back in the bed thinking about her and Jason. Still only wrapped in the white cotton bed sheet, she's tempted to cure her own frustration when she notices her black panties lying under the chair, where he moved it when he went to the door. She makes the conscious effort to get up, bending down to retrieve them and just as she does she hears the door to the bunk open.   
  
She smiles. "Oh that didn't take long .........." But the joy in her voice soon trails off as she turns around to the clicking sound of the phone camera.   
"Oh my god!" She cries out "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Ellis!" Damien smiles while holding his phone up, looking at the picture he just took of her on his screen. "Oh, just be calm. I'm not going to hurt you!" He notices the look of fear on her face "But I could ask you what you're doing here? I mean.....why you're naked, except for a bedsheet in the Master Chief's bunk?"   
He frowns as he smiles smugly watching her reaction "Tut tut Ellis!...What would people think if they knew?"


	26. Say his name!

"Get out!" Her breathing is fast and erratic as she stares at him, "Damien... mean it...GET OUT!"

He smiles but doesn't listen and closes the door.

"Please!..... just leave me alone!" She can feel the sudden panic rising inside. Her hands starting to tremble. "Damien ...please... don't!" Her breaths are short and fast as he strokes her arm. She fumbles, pulling the sheet tighter around her body, realizing how vulnerable she is right now.

"Oh, don't worry..." he smiles "I'm not going to touch you. I know where you've been, or, rather, _who_ you've been with. Though I do have to say, he's a step up from the blonde I thought you were shagging!"

She relaxes ever-so slightly but despite what he says, that he won't touch her. She's still apprehensive being this close to him. "Damien you need to go... you can't be in here!"

"Oh, I'm going, I just wanted you to know, that I know what you've been doing with Master Chief Hayes!"

She shakes her head "It's not ..."

"It's not what?" he laughs interrupting her. "Oh, come on Ellis, are you seriously going to tell me it's not what I think?" He laughs again louder "So tell me then, what the hell is it, hmmm... Tell me, what would cause you to be wrapped in just a bed sheet if it's _not_ what I think?" He watches, staring, waiting as she tries desperately to find a way to answer him - her nerves obvious. "But you know what? I don't care! You can screw all of Bravo if you want.." He laughs at her "maybe you already have?"

She looks at him with disgust. He makes her so angry. His arrogant tone, his vile smugness and she lashes out slapping him hard on the cheek. "Go to hell Damien!"

The slap is hard, it smarts on his skin so much that it jars at his temper and he grabs at her hand holding her wrist tight in his grip. Then pushing her back against the wall, he grinds his teeth, trying hard to control the rage she's stoked inside him "Don't... You know that doesn't end well!"

He frightens her. He frightens himself. Keeping a hold of her wrists he pins against the wall. She panics, wondering what he's going to do. "Damien please don't..." she stares at him " I'll scream if you don't let me go!"

"Oh, really!" he laughs " You'll scream? Of course, you will...because no one will ask why you were naked in Hayes bunk will they? Your dirty little secret. So, I don't think you will, Ellis." Then unexpectedly he tugs at the sheet, snatching it from her grip. "Hmmm..." he smiles looking at her. She doesn't move, the sheet lays at her feet on the floor "You really are very beautiful Ellis. Pity you're such a handful to control!"

She closes her eyes but can still feel his gaze staring all over her naked body. "Damien...." She falters "Jason, will be back in a minute if he finds you here..."

"No! ..." he laughs "No, he won't" he leans in against her cheek "because I left Jason having beers with the boys!"

She takes deep breaths, her chest heaving with anxiety "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm not doing anything...I just wanted to see you." he smiles watching her and takes a deep breath "I hope you've told Jason what he's risking.... by going up against Sharpe for your attention?"

Closing her eyes, she struggles to get free until he releases his grip. "Ryan and me, are over!"

He smiles, bending down, only inches from her body. "Mmm..." he sniffs her as he allows the back of his hand to wander across her flesh of her hip and down her thigh. "Now I remember why we were so good together." He can feel her tense up as he picks up the sheet, handing it back to her.

She pulls it towards her, clutching it to her chest, covering herself as he continues to stare her in the eyes. He laughs "Oh, and as for you and _Ryan_, I don't think he's received the memo about you being over, yet!"

"I don't care what you think! I made it clear to him we're done!"

"Sorry Ellis but I don't believe you. Maybe you think it's over, but Sharpe doesn't seem to be letting go. Though..." he rubs the back of his hand on her shoulder and arm " I can see why he wouldn't. It's just a shame you're such a cheap little tramp!"

She looks away embarrassed as he gets up close against her, the smell of beer against her face. He smiles watching her while she tries not to make eye contact. "Please Damien, just leave me alone." She clings the sheet it's her only protection from him touching her.

  
"I remember so well, this perfect mouth..." He traces the outline of her lips and chin with his thumb "the thought of it around my dick, it still turns me on. There's just something about you Ellis that....mmmm!"

" Damien.... "

He laughs backing off realizing she's actually fraid of him, or afraid what he might do to her. If he's honest, stood here within touching distance, he scares himself. He wants to take her again so much, but this time he wants her willingly, not like last time stupidly drun -forcing her. _ That was a stupid mistake._ It nearly cost him his career; he would not be making that mistake again. There was no way was he coming into Sharpe's firing line, not because of her.

"Anyway, I'm glad we cleared this up, Ellis. Now we both know where we stand!" He looks at his watch " I best go. Jason, will be wondering where I went" he smiles again "You know I think he was in hurry to get back. Maybe..... he left something simmering on the stove!"

She closes her eyes not responding to his remarks, taking a deep breath. A look of utter contempt and disgust for him. " Just go...." she steadies her breathing, wrapping the sheet tighter around her keeping a firm grip on it "...please!"

  
He laughs "I'm going, but this... " he points at her "this is not the end! You caused a blot on my copybook, and it's still costing me. I need that put right!"

"I caused? I.....oh, my God, seriously? You got away with raping me, what more do you want? You bribed me into dropping that charge and if it hadn't been for Ryan covering it over....and we know why that was don't we! You wouldn't have_ any _career left!"

"Oh, poor Ellis! Still... saved your precious model-boy Wes didn't you. I mean punching an officer he was lucky to still have a job, let alone not get arrested! And let's not forget poor Lucas, I mean he'll never know now that he may never have got into OCS without you. Still ....I'm sure they're both grateful for what you did!" He smiles "Problem is, that stench - the rumors. I mean, sexual assault - rape ... that reputation follows you around. Really Ellis, were you serious with that? What, when we'd been screwing night and day for weeks!?" He sneers at her "It's a hard stain to erase. Did you know I got passed over for my promotion, because of that... because of your lies"

"My lies?.... Oh my.... you're unbelievable! We both know what you did!"

"Oh, come on Ellis, you could never have proved it. I mean, yeah things might have got a little rough, we were both drunk after all, but I thought you liked that? I mean we've done stuff like that before..." he laughs "that's what I didn't get, how was it different?"

She sighs staring at him she has this sick feeling in the pit of her stomach as he makes her question herself all over again. "I can't believe you're even asking that - How was it different? It was different because I said NO, Damien! That was the difference. I didn't want that and you still hurt me!" A tear rolls down her cheek "You were a complete ass hole, screwing around behind my back - we were done. You had no right to do that to me!"

  
She sucks back her tears but the venom with which she speaks makes him feel a rush of blood. Her wilful attitude, her accusations -the truth facing him, make his simmering temper boil over. "Well perhaps if you weren't such a little slut someone might have believed you. But if you behave the way you do what do you expect? You asked for it Ellis!"

She wants to answer him back she wipes the tear with her free hand "I'm not a slut you know that's not true.... take it back!" She looks at him, his smirking face and she has this feeling of pure hatred come over her. "You really are a son of a bitch, aren't you!" She pushes him hard "arrrghhh!" She screams in frustration "GET OUT!" She pushes again and again "I said... GET...get the hell... OUT!!"

She's hitting him, pushing him, her anger overflowing. Then she picks up the glass from the shelf and throws it, hitting him hard on the side of the head. She hears the thud as it lands unbroken on the floor and looking up she can see a small trickle of blood from the gash on his forehead.

She stops taking a breath. Both staring at each other. "I said GET OUT!!" Then this wave of panic comes over her as she sees the look on his face. He's just staring at her holding his head.

"You stupid bitch!" and then before she realizes what's happening he grabs her hair and pushes her over the table, bending her over, pushing himself up against her, his strength overpowering her as he pins her down. "You'd do well to not get too get smart Ellis!" He pulls at the sheet pushing it up, baring her legs while she grapples with him trying to hold it in place. Fighting him back. "Do you know how easy this would be right now? I could fuck you right here... " he smiles running his fingers along the soft wet of her slit. Tempted to enter his fingers inside her.

She kicks and struggles but he's much too strong for her and she panics. "Oh god... Damien please ... please don't!" she can feel herself struggling not to cry. "Please..." her voice falters.

His hands caressing over her butt, pulling at her cheeks as he unzips his pants rubbing himself against the soft flesh of her ass. He laughs leaning his chest against her back, whispering in her ear. "Oh, don't worry..." he lets go. "like I told you I'm not desperate for used slut!" He laughs easing his grip on her neck. releasing her from the table but not before he rubs his groin against her again. Then he steps away, letting her go. Zipping the fly on his pants he takes a deep breath.

Pulling his hand through his floppy dark hair. He looks in the mirror on the wall and can see his forehead is wet with sweat. He takes a handkerchief from his pocket and wipes it, cleaning up the blood from the cut. He laughs at her " It will be interesting to see what Sharpe does, though... when he finds out who's keeping you warm at night!"

"Damien..." She frowns "... please what are you going to do?" She looks at him and all she can think about is Jason. About what Damien might do and how it might affect him - his career. "Please, let's just forget all this... I won't say anything about what happened here. Just don't say anything about Jason. Please, Ryan doesn't need to know that."

He laughs "Oh what? You're worried he might take your toy away?" He shoves her hard then turns to leave, picking her panties up from the floor where they lay. He sniffs them then places them in his pocket. "You know maybe you wouldn't have this problem if you kept some knickers _on_ for a change!"

She closes her eyes, slumping to the floor she starts to cry as he finally leaves. The door slamming shut in front of her "Oh god..." The pain in stomach aches as she holding the sheet around her knees. "Fuck!!!..." She curls up leaned against the back of the door. She's shaking so much from adrenaline. So angry with him, and herself, for letting him do that. Trying so hard to calm her sobs. unable to suck in air.

**~ ## ~**

Some time has passed and all she's done is sit there staring at the wall. She's calmer now. Getting up she gathers, her somewhat limited, clothing - getting dressed. Deciding she needs to get out of here. 

Now much more calm she wanders the base, taking a walk, breathing the cooler night air. There's something about the fresher breeze on her face that makes her feel good. If she lets herself think too much, about Damien and what he did, it sets her off and she feels the tears well in her eyes. It's more a cry of anger, so angry with Damien, and the fact again she was so helpless to do anything - to stop him. 

Pulling her fingers through her hair she keeps to the shadows, hopefully unseen. She creeps past the the outside drinking area. Stopping between the buildings she can see the guys are all outside. Sonny and two of the guys from alpha joking and raising glasses. She can also see Jason, Ray, and ... Damien, at the bench. Deep in conversation, Jason smiling and laughing. Seeing them all together makes a sick, nausea feeling rise in her stomach. The bile in her throat makes her panic again. She sighs. Thinking about texting Jason, asking him to come to her. But in this state, what would she say? Would she tell him what Damien did to her, unleash all the chaos that would bring because there's no way he'd just let it go!

_No!_ she dismisses the idea, Telling anyone was not going to help. And so instead she opts to deal with this on her own. She just needs some peace and quiet. Some time for reflection and time to put everything into perspective. Maybe it was time to make some hard - but necessary choices.

**~ ##~**

She finds the peace she needs in the quiet sanctuary of the 'viewing area'. The favorite stop for her and Wes and she sits herself down on some of the packing crates, rubbing her head and continually sighing. Taking in deep breathes, enjoying the cool air. Her arms prickle with a chill and she wishes she had a jacket, but she decides not to leave. Putting her head down staring, blankly, at the sand below her feet, detaching herself from the world around her, lost in her head almost watching herself sitting there.

She's so lost in her thoughts that she isn't aware until his hands on her arms that Ryan's behind her.

"So, are you going to tell me what today all was about?"

She closes her eyes as she comes back to the real world and Ryan's hands on her arms rubbing the chilled goosebumps. She smiles to herself, she has so many places she likes to hide out on the base but there are not many of those places that he out of everyone, doesn't know by now. She bites her lip, she has nothing to say and she just shrugs her shoulders at his question.

"Well?" he waits for a response "Don't I even get an explanation?"

She sighs "Sorry, I ... " she has no words and she sighs again "...just a shit day, I guess!"

"You do realize you've left me no choice and I will have to discipline you tomorrow for going AWOL like that?"

As she nods in response letting out a long deeper sigh. She's resigned to her fate, and she's not even sure if she cares. "I guess!"

"So what happened?"

"Ryan, I'm sorry... I ...I don't know what happened. This whole thing with Lucas ... it just... everything got too much - I guess."

"Ellie .." He softens his tone "..what the hell am I going to do with you?" He looks around again carefully checking he's not been seen. He rubs his hands over the smooth of her arms while standing over her resting his chin on the top of her head and for a moment she accepts his comfort, enjoying his warmth, his strong arms holding her and she leans back into him devouring his touch and his smell. _He always smells so damn good!_

She closes her eyes feeling safe as he kisses her neck. God knows she needs this right now but then a wave of guilt spreads over her and all she can think of is Jason. The way he makes her feel, his touches, his comfort and she pulls herself away from his arms

"What's wrong?" Her body language going from relaxed and accepting to tense.

She shakes him off turning to face him "Ryan stop! This...this can't happen. I've told you... it's over!"

He laughs "You don't mean that!" She looks at him, her expression serious. "No! No, it's never going to be over Ellie, not until I say it is!"

She lets out this breathless resigned laugh "If you remember you did say it was. You said you were going back to your wife...you chose Ryan - you chose her."

He laughs "I did, but...." he sighs looks at her his hand touching her face "you drive me insane. I'm not giving you up. I won't. You're like a madness, and when I'm not with you I'm thinking about you. The idea of you with anyone else it ...it tears at my guts - breaks my heart."

She laughs shaking her head in resigned disbelief wondering where this is all coming from now. "You know, I know what you got Maxwell to do... my applications, to get out of here, he told me... Why? Why would you stop me. You know its the best thing." She laughs exasperated by him. He brushes her loose strands of hair from her face but she pushes his hand away "I'm not what you need Ryan. I can't be what you want. Hell, what you're gonna risk your whole career for me? I don't think so."

He's thinking, deep in thought, watching her. Tracing the line of her face with his hand " "You know, Commander Bennett needs to learn when to keep his mouth shut!" he laughs "The discipline around here is getting a little lax. I will definitely have to do something about that!"

She shakes her head "How far are you going to keep pushing this? I mean what is this even about? Because this is not about me... Hell you know we can't be together, God knows how we've even got this without getting found out!"

"You could leave then. Then we'll be together. Come on Ellie we could be good together!"

"What you want me to stay home, while you do this and then you find another _'Ellie'_ to fuck while I'm home waiting?" she laughs "Maybe I'll find myself a fitness instructor, hmmm....that what you want too? Maybe have a threesome when you get home."

He closes his eyes. He knows she's right but the feeling she stirs inside him, in his loins it's too much and he doesn't want the feeling to end.

"Ryan just let me go! Let Maxwell put those papers through, let me transfer out of here. Please!"

"No, I can't. I have to have you here... I want you here with me!"

"So, you want me to quit? Cos you can't stop that, you're not my Commander, you have no say in that!"

He laughs "You know that's not true. You know what I'm capable of, what my position can do!"

She frustrated "What is this about? Is this about control? You want to dominate me?" she frowns at him "I just don't understand you!"

He takes her hand in his and the other on her cheek as he kisses her. He's passionate and tender and so needy for her and if she were to admit it she likes it, she misses it, she misses him. But now she pulls away only for him to catch her by the wrist and pull her back. He looks at her hand in his studying it, then he notices the fresh, red bruised marks "What's this?" He frowns still turning her wrists over.

"Nothing!" she tries to pull away, but he takes hold of it again, showing her the marks as he asks her again.

"This is nothing! Who did this?" 

She ignores him, shaking her head, part of her is tempted to tell him, the other part scared of the consequences. Because she knows that Damien knows about Jason and her need to protect him is foremost in her thoughts.

"Ellis?!" he's serious with her now because he calls her by her real name "What happened?"

She swallows cagey in her response "It's fine! It's nothing, I dealt with it. Really. Ryan, it's nothing, I promise...." she kisses him back. Stroking his face trying to soothe him, calm his anger, make him forget it.

"Did he do this to you?"

"What?....Who?" she frowns wondering what he's thinking " please just stop okay! You're imagining things that are not there -I am not seeing Clay!" She stares at him hard trying to read his thoughts. "Your little power trip, locking him up for the night -pointless! What was that even for?"

He laughs "That was because he's arrogant jumped up little arse, who doesn't know when to stop talking! That was nothing to do with you!"

"Right nothing to do with me, but strange you think we're......" she sighs "You think I'm sleeping with him? Ryan, we're not doing anything! Hell, he's Wes' friend, not mine!"

"I know.... I know you're not - not with him!"

She frowns, confused " So if you know, then why? Why lock Clay up!"

"I'm not talking about Spenser... I don't give a toss about him. I'm asking did your new fuck do this to you?"

She laughs again "You don't listen, do you! You never listen.... there isn't a new... anyone! Ryan, I'm not seeing anyone." She tries to hold eye contact, trying to get him to believe her.

"Now I know you're lying! Are you going to admit it and say his name?" She stays quiet, not saying a word "Go on say it!.... tell me who's fucking you, Ellie!"

She closes her eyes trying to hold tears back. Shaking her head in denial. She can't reason with him and she doesn't know why but she finds it so hard to lie to him. But she also knows she can't tell him because she knows telling him will be a bad thing.

"Oh..." she sighs dismissively she can't believe what he's asking "perrleese... Ryan!!! Don't, don't do this!

"Is he better than me - in bed? Is that why you won't come back to me!" He stares her in the eyes, willing her to answer.

Realizing he's just going to keep persisting she finally gives. One big sigh as spills the name.

"Damien!! Damien did this" she holds her wrist out looking at it as she wipes a tear off her cheek. "We had words, and...and he got hold of me, but please.... I just want to leave it and move on! It's nothing, it's finished with..." She takes a breath, seeing the rage boiling in his eyes.

"Words!.... You had words. This... " he holds her wrist " this is not words?... Well I'll be having _words!_" he brushes her hair back "Did he do anything else ... did he hurt you?"

"um....no.." she hesitates "no, he just shook me up a bit that's all -I'm fine ... Really, just leave it, please!" she puts her hand to his cheek, calming him. "For my sake... just leave it. I can't go through that again." she watches how angry he is and she sighs as she touches her lips to his "Please ...its fine.. " she smiles.

He sees this as his opportunity. Her up close, her hands to his face, stroking his cheek and leaning in her kisses her. She holds back -resisting. Trying desperately not to respond. Wrapping his arm around her waist. As she tries to deny him. Deny that she likes it, wants him, the comfort of his kisses - his touch. He's warm and soft and she remembers how passionate his is. But then once again it's Jason that floods her thoughts.

"Don't... I told you..." she sighs " No!... No this, it can't be!"

He laughs "And right there... right there, I see it! You are fucking someone else; I know it. That's why you're resisting. Come on Ellis, just admit it ... Say his _damn _name, Ellie!" He stares directly in her eyes.

Her lip quivers, she's holding it back not daring to say a word.

"I told you there isn't anyone!"

"Liar! I know you're lying... " he smiles, watching the frown on her face ".. I know!" he laughs " I see how he looks at you, the little subtle touches, the smiles. How he defended you!"

"What?" she frowns " What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about... Hayes!!"

She swallows hard all her emotion drops from her face and heart sinks wondering how he knows She shakes her head "No!" she laughs awkwardly "What? No!....Jason? Are you serious... no, nothing's going on!" Inside her head, she panics _Shit! he knows_

He stands over her "I told you ... you can't lie to me - you never could." He puts his hand to her cheek, and she closes her eyes to his touch.

"Who told you? Damien?... Did he tell you?"

He frowns "No, why?..... Does he know?" She nods as he frowns at her concerned. "Has something happened. Did Damien do something?"

"No he ... he just scared me a little! But he does know.." a tear leaks from her eye and sits on her cheek. "he threatened me.... said he'd tell you ... I didn't know what he was going to do"

"That was careless!" he smiles watching her eyes. Wiping away the tear as he leans in and kisses her so softly. "I will deal with this...with both of them!"

"Ryan please...don't!" she runs her hands through her hair pushing him back, but he catches her waist pulling her to him and stares her up close in the face "I won't have my authority undermined - not by anyone. You should know that!" He laughs as he plants a kiss on her lips, holding her, kissing her. She closes her eyes, still trying to resist. The truth though -she likes it. Then before she has time to respond to him he stops and walks away, only stopping to turn and give her an order .

"Oh and Private Baxter,... I'll expect you in the briefing room 0400 hours!"

She frowns, so annoyed by him,. She lets out a deep annoyed sigh as she sarcastically answers. "Yes Sir!" Then taking a breath she watches as he disappears from her view. Se drops to the ground, sitting in the sand -by the crates. Leaning her head back, looking the stars.

"Shit!" She rubs her head as she sighs looking up."Oh Lucas... why can't you be here. You'd sort this mess out for me - Help me!" she smiles. "We just wanted some fun, some excitement! How the hell did I get in this mess!" She sighs a long and exhausted sigh, running her hands through her matted hair as a thousand thoughts dance through her mind. "Oh, what the fuck am I going to do?"


	27. Yes Sir!

**More coming soon this is lead in and build up to more hot action to come !! Hope you're enjoying reading this one as much as I am writing it!!  
Gonna get fiery again real soon. What are you hoping is coming?**

**Chapter 27 - Yes Sir**

Considering the lateness of the hour and the coolness of the air, the drinking area is still raucous with laughing and joking.  
  
Eric looks around as a sudden hush starts to descend. Like a wave, it starts at the front and heads, rapidly, towards them.  
As the crest of the silence reaches them, he nudges Jason and Damien, drawing their attention to the source of the deafening quiet.  
And then like all the others they stand to attention as Group Captain Sharpe stands staring at them, arms folded and showing a mood of disapproval. "Gentlemen! I'm glad I have your attention"

"Sir!" The uniformed reply comes from everyone's mouths, they all stand rigid, not daring to move and if they were hoping for the words '_At ease!'_ then that hope is in vain.

Group captain Ryan Sharpe. Disciplined, ambitious, authoritative and feared.  
He's quite a figure standing here, among all the varying personnel. The various ranks all gathered together relaxing and enjoying the cool of the night.  
  
No one can ever help notice him because everything about him screams perfection.  
Whether, in the grim conditions of the desert, it's the appreciated smell of expensive aftershave or his immaculate uniform, with it's perfectly aligned sleeve rolls or the crisp of the collar on his dress shirts, he never fails to make his presence felt.

He's the complete package and that's the reason he's head of the overall base command.  
  
A classically well-built, good-looking man, who towers over most other commanders in his control. He has a cool, self-assured presence that no one dares to challenge.  
  
And should anyone ever try to scrutinize or call question on his leadership, then rest assured he's more than able to compete both physically and mentally.  
Priding himself that he can still meet all fitness requirements with ease, and that his modern day technical and political knowledge are second to none. He spends many hours updating himself with intel and obscure tactical procedures, that gives a definite air of him being something special.  
His accent, in combination with his no nonsense, puritanical control cause some of the lesser ranks to call him an "_arrogant asshole!" _  
  
But to the powerful cake eaters above him, he's an untouchable, perfection. Considered to be the modern military personified.  
But perfection he's not, and that's because he has a weakness, one that's proved to be the downfall of many a man in his position. That of a wandering eye, a ladies man! It's certainly been his undoing at times, especially his want for Ellis. She's a weak, madness that seems to control him.  
Not many know about it but those that do try and use it as a means to get the better of him in the hopes to be his undoing. But if they do they better beware because it comes with the price of payback and regret. Damien used it once and Sharpe still doesn't forget it.

And so here are Bravo and Alpha finding themselves surprised by his presence this late at night, for reasons unknown.  
Commander Blackburn feels uncomfortable at being the momentary focus of his attention, because he knows from talk with other commanders it's not the greatest place to find himself.  
  
He stands silent, arms folded just staring them in the eye, first Damien, then Jason.  
"I'm glad I have your attention!" he addresses them with his strict, authoritative tone. "There are some issues that have come to _my _attention. So, could I suggest Commander Blackburn...." His gaze falls on Eric ".. that whatever is going on here, it gets wrapped up immediately!"  
  
  
Everyone side glances each other and they all put their bottles and glasses down on the tables before returning to statue like attention positions.  
  
"Sir!" a collective reply comes from every person within earshot. Then Eric has to do it, he has to step forward, into the awkwardness of the arena and ask "Is there a problem, Sir?"

He smiles, turning his attention back to Eric, looking him in the eyes, running a glance over his appearance and frowning.  
"Yes Commander, seems we do have a problem. At present, I'm sensing a shoddy lack of self-discipline, and respect, for the command structure. Granted this current situation has been outside normal protocols but... being specialists in their field, I would have expected these teams to have been able to adapt in a much more positive way, with much better outcomes. This is not a holiday camp!"  
  
He takes a breath staring back at Damien and Jason "And as welcome as this so called truce of your grievances is, I would appreciate as team _leaders _if_ y_ou would take some collective responsibility for these lapses. In my opinion it's time to address some of these issues!"  
  
He pauses "We'll start with time keeping, and so both teams will report to the briefing room at 0400, and I _expect_ them clean, tidy and sober. Is that understood!"

Jason makes a quick glance to Sharpe's watch, which indicates to him the already lateness of the hour and his mind wanders. _Ellis...Shit!_ _I completely forgot!_  
He's not sure how but the time, chatter and beers got away from him!  
Looking at the time Jason starts to put a case for Sharpe's unrealistic expectation of their presence at 0400 "Sir, I would... "

"I'm sorry?" Sharpe frowns at him, indignantly "Was there anything in that order that required you to speak?"  
He stares Jason hard in the face and laughs " I can see where Mr Spenser gets his lax attitude for command from. Looks like he's not the only one who will need to learn when a senior commanding officer is speaking that he should be quiet and pay attention!"  
  
He keeps staring at them and without moving his gaze, he continues by addressing Eric "Commander Blackburn!"

"Sir!" Eric is beside him, putting on his best attention stance.

"Lieutenant Commander, tomorrow 0900 hours, we will have a full kit and quarters inspections!"

"Sir?" Blackburn frowns concerned by the sudden unusual request "We.. errm.... tomorrow? Sir, no disrespect but tomorrow was scheduled as R and R and an inspection is not normally something we do on deployment"  
  


Sharpe laughs "I'm sorry? I thought the last time I looked; I was the senior officer?!" he turns pursing his lips and glaring at Eric " I... don't.... care... what you normally do Lieutenant Commander Blackburn, but I do wonder if you _normally_ have difficulty following orders a senior officer gives?"

"err mmm... No sir! Of course not!"

"No sir!....So you understand the order, regarding inspection?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Yes sir!" he smiles again he leans into to Eric's ear and hushes his voice "I find _anything_, and I mean _anything_ amiss with either team, there will be consequences! Is that clear? I am holding _you _responsible!"

Eric sighs with Malcolm incapacitated it leaves him nowhere to go.  
  
Sharpe's focus is back again on Jason. Standing only inches from his face as Jason holds his breath. He doesn't flinch as Sharpe feels the collar on his jacket  
"Standards Master Chief Hayes. One must apply standards, otherwise people start to take liberties, push the boundaries of what's acceptable. Don't you think?"

"Sir!" the only answer Jason feels he can give. He feels so uncomfortable, wondering where and how they've caused offense, or how far Clay pushed his out of line comments to bring Sharpe's attention to the team. Attention that both Damien and Eric had already warned him not to provoke.  
  
"Now, as I said... time to wrap this little soiree up! Gentlemen, you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow!" he looks at his watch and goes to take his leave "Lieutenant Commander, 0400 briefing room!" he looks at Eric "I expect to see full kit bags with them, ready for inspection"

Sonny draws a deep breath in, he also glances discreetly at his watch. He frowns, realising that they now only have a very limited window of time to be ready.  
  
They all still don't dare move. No one in the outside area has moved, except for sideways eye glances at each other.  
Other commanders, who only moments ago were being jovial, drinking and laughing, now standing silent, heads bowed, awkwardly just thanking God that it's not them that's the focus of Sharpe's attention. Suddenly no one wants to be Bravo or Alpha teams.  
  


As Sharpe strides away he spies Maxwell who's standing still, casting furtive glances to Eric  
"Ahh! Commander Bennett, a word.. in private!"

Maxwell swallows hard, Sharpe's tone is not patient and it causes Bennett's nervous indigestion to flare up "Now sir?" Maxwell frowns, he has no clue as to the reason for the request.

"Well, did you think I meant next week?" he facetiously laughs

"No sir! Sir, I'm sorry Sir, I meant no offense, just....." then realising it's probably just best to keep his mouth shut "Sir, this way!" Maxwell points towards the offices.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

As Sharpe disappears, they all breath out, a collective sigh of relief  
  
"That was slightly intense!" Sonny looks at Ray "Jace, what the hell was that about?"

"I don't know! Eric, what the hell did the kid say to him?"

Eric shrugs and frowns. Truth is, he's not sure what's made Sharpe so mad with them.

"Is he serious?" Sonny addresses Eric "Full kit and quarters inspection? What the hell!" Sonny frowns "Eric, he can't actually be serious with that, right? I mean... this is deployment, it's meant to get a little messed up!"

"Sonny, you heard the man, time to pack it up! Get some rest, then get yourselves together! And for god sake use the time wisely!"

Sonny turns his attention to Jason "So, you're gonna take that?... I mean just do that, what he said? .. You not gonna question it, no?"

"Sonny...." Jason gets what he's saying, what he means, but he doesn't want to piss Sharpe off anymore "... you'll need to sort Clay's kit as well! I don't think there any chance the kid's gonna be back tonight!"

Sonny looks at him confused and in disbelief "What the hell!....Jason you didn't even argue our case man, that's not like you! What the fucks' going on!"

Ray looks at Jason, he can sense something's going on with him, deep inside, but he can also sense it's not something that's going to be discussed right now "Sonny, you heard the man, let's ...just get this wrapped up. Come on Brother, time to go!"

Sonny slugs the rest of his beer back "Damn you Spenser! Just one time, could you not keep your mouth shut!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

She puts her hand on the handle of her unit, stopping on the steps, she looks over at Jason's bunk, wondering if she should go see him. She looks at his text again, apologising for not coming back sooner. _Sorry!_  
  
_No!_ she sighs, _I need some sleep and just forget about tonight!_  
  
She opens the door, it's dark inside but using the minimal light from her phone, she can make out Mandy and Wes wrapped in each other's arms, fast asleep.  
She smiles. Never has she seen Wes this into anyone as much as he has been Mandy. And Mandy, she's turning out to be a lot more complicated than Ellis ever gave her credit for.

  
Slipping off her shorts she climbs quietly into her bed.  
Curling her knees up to her chest, making herself into a ball, the emotions of tonight start to overcome her. She swallows hard, she doesn't want to be weak, but she can feel the tears running down her cheek.

"Hey!" Wes' hushed voice calls across in the dark "Ellis, you okay?"  
  
When she still doesn't answer he unwraps himself from Mandy, shuffles across the floor and sits beside Ellis's bed. He can hear her muffled sobs and he strokes her hair comforting her "Ellis, what's happened?"

She pulls his arm around her body "Hold me!"

Wes gets in the bed beside her, wrapping his arm round her body, sitting up, watching her face in the low light "What happened?" he frowns "You okay?"

"Just hold me!" she sniffs back her tears as he lays on the edge holding her tight and she snuggles back into him  
  
"You and Jason okay?"

She nods "Yeah! .. Yeah it's nothing!"

"Ellis, don't lie to me."

She swallows her tears back. She really needs to talk to someone, and Wes would normally be her go to, but she knows is she tells him he won't be able to contain himself  
"I had..... don't worry, it's nothing, I'll tell you tomorrow, I just wanna go to sleep. I'm so tired!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

As she wakes turning over she can see Mandy getting dressed. She frowns and sighs "Hmm! Wes gone?" she frowns

"Hey!" Mandy smiles at her and Ellis smiles back "You okay?He said you had a rough nigh?"

"Yeah I'm okay .. shit day, yesterday. I'll be good." She smiles "You're up early!" she looks at the time on her phone 03:30

Mandy looks at her frowning she can see she's been crying her eyes red and tired "You sure you're alright?"

Ellis nods "Yeah, yeah I'm good"

Mandy is kind of glad that she said she's okay because she's not sure she's cut out to have heart to heart with Ellis about stuff "I have to get off. I have some intel I have to check out!"

"Yeah I have to get up too! I've been summoned!" she sighs

"Summoned by who?" Mandy frowns "Oh Ellis, what did you do now?"  
  
"Nothing!" she laughs "Oh ...it's Sharpe! You know, yesterday, going AWOL!" She sighs,again. "Guess him getting me up early probably isn't going to be punishment enough though!" 

Mandy laughs knowing how much Ellis likes her sleep "Yeah Sharpe sure likes his early mornings!"

"Hmmm yeah..." she laughs thinking about early mornings she's had with him. "Yeah he's certainly one for time keeping!"  
  
She stretches in her bed still only in her vest and panties. Mandy smiles at her, she's ready to leave then she frowns as she watches out the window. "What the hell are they doing?"  
  
She can see Sonny, Ray and Jason all chucking kit bags outside their bunks. Checking her phone in case she missed some alert or something overnight, but no her screen is blank.  
  
Ellis gets up and looks out, watching them  
"Sonny doesn't look happy, for sure!" she frowns, as she sees Clay come wandering back "Oh well, at least he's let Clay go, that's something! Anyway I thought today was scheduled for R and R... Jason said, I mean.... I overheard them talking! What's this? A last-minute thing?" she looks at Mandy, questioning her "They being deployed?"

Mandy frowns again "Well it's not something I know about!"  
  
Ellis shrugs and picks her phone up "No! nothing for me either" she shrugs "Guess we'll find out!"  
She rolls her eyes and continues sorting her clothes, pulling out some clean underwear and combats from the pile on the chair.


	28. Pick a team!

Despite being tired, having showered and washed her hair, she’s finally regained some control of her emotions. Remembering at last who she is - who she can be. She feels defiant again. And putting the sass back into her walk, she struts down the corridor to the briefing room. Whatever the consequences of her actions yesterday_. Bring it on, is what I say!_  
She’s feeling much better, than she did. Deciding not to answer any of Jason’s Texts From Last Night - or this morning. He’s thinking she’s pissed about him not coming back last night, but the truth is avoidance. Her avoiding him, because she’s not sure what to say.

_Oh no! _She sighs not expecting to be confronted by this situation as soon as she arrives. _What the hell’s going on? _She frowns. G_uess I have to face him now! _As she gets to the end of the corridor both teams, Bravo and Alpha, are lining the walls either side. All in uniform, all with their kit bags sitting beside them.

It knocks her. Deflating some of her earlier confidence. Clay’s the first to acknowledge her and she offers him a sympathetic - apologetic smile. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good!” He smiles back “Hey…” He can see the look in her face, apportioning blame to herself for his overnight incarceration. “… don’t worry, this wasn’t your fault.”   
He in no way blames her for what happened. He can stand up for himself and will take any consequences associated to his actions.

“You going somewhere?” she frowns asking as both Jason and Eric look at her. They’re wondering why she’s there, and her wondering the same of them.

“No!” Jason shakes his head. He’s blunt and doesn’t say anymore than that.  


She can tell he’s pissed with her, probably for not answering his messages. “So what’s this all about?” She frowns, he shrugs, making a definite point not to look at her. She sighs thinking how childish he’s being and turns her attention to Sonny.

He answers her question. “Your man there… Sharpe! He’s being a first-class asshole! You know he’s got us on full inspection today - a rota’d RnR day. He’s got us cleaning goddamn sand from our shoes!… Fuck my life sucks…”

She frowns, confused as she looks at the others. Alpha team all raise their eyebrows “What?…. Why? I don’t understand. Why’s he doing that?”

“Yeah, I wonder too?!” Damien smirks at her “Perhaps _you_ could shed some light on that!”

_Asshole! _She frowns annoyed by his sarcastic remark but she will not rise to him.  
Sonny’s about to speak again when Ray nudges him. Alerting him to the risk, telling him to quiet.

GC Sharpe comes striding down the corridor towards them. He has this stern, pissed look on his face as he opens the briefing room door. “Baxter…. in there!” he screams, gesturing for her to enter.

She takes a deep breath, swallowing the nervous anticipation she feels into the back of her throat. The others stepping forward to follow behind.

Sharpe blocks the doorway, stopping them from entering. “Did I tell _anyone _else to move?” She looks around, as they all stand back in their positions. “I asked a question and I expect an answer… Did I tell anyone else to move?”

“No Sir!” the collective response, as they all maintain their lines against the wall.  
  
Sonny’s growling under his breath. “_Well he can’t talk about time keeping when he’s half an hour late!”_

Harry, from Alpha, whispers to him “It’s not bad time keeping, it’s what he does… keeps you waiting - one of his favorite tricks. You need to just suck it up. Don’t let him get under your skin, that’s exactly what he wants!”

Damien turns his head, glaring at Harry for speaking. Indicating for him to be quiet, he doesn’t want him attracting any of Sharpe’s attention towards Alpha.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Ellis feels awkward. As she stands in the briefing room, alone, she’s confronted by a video still. The picture frozen on the large screen that’s attached to a laptop on the empty desk. A picture of the desert with what appears to be a heap of discarded clothes. She frowns - confused. Wondering maybe if the screen has been left on by mistake.

Sharpe enters the room behind her and closes the door. She takes a deep breath and stands to attention as he looks at her - her at him. She makes a point not to hold eye contact with him for too long. “Ellie… I need to talk to you!”

She frowns and relaxes slightly. He called her_ Ellie_, that indicates that this is probably not the disciplinary that she thought it would be. “Okay!” she nods apprehensively, then takes a deep breath before speaking “Ryan, before you start, I’m sorry, about yesterday. I don’t know what came over me, to do that, I just… well, it was unprofessional, and it won’t happen again, Sir.”

“Yes you are right it was unprofessional.” he nods. The both of them in agreement as he continues to stare at her. “You know you’re better than that, but… apology accepted! That’s not what I need to talk to you about!, though.”

She sighs, pleased that he’s accepted her apology, but now apprehensive and concerned “So what then?”

He draws in a deep breath, then points her to the video still. “Look at the screen!”   
She turns looking back at the captured image and shrugs.“Sorry, I’m not sure exactly what am I looking at!”

“It’s a body!” he’s cold, blunt and to the point with his answer.

A wave of nausea comes over her, a realization dawns on her. Yes now she can see it’s not the heap of clothing like she first thought. “A body?!” she gulps almost unsure whether to ask any more “Whose… whose body?”

“Corporal McIntyre. It’s the reason I asked you to leave the briefing yesterday.”

“McIntyre…” She lets out a sigh of relief, for a moment, she thought it would be much worse and nods toward him “So why are you showing me this now?”

He bites his lip thinking of how to explain this “Ellis, we may recover more bodies…”

“More?” she frowns questioning “By more bodies, you mean… you mean Lucas? I… I don’t understand, I thought…. the explosion I.. I just didn’t imagine the bodies would be…. you know…” She’s finding it difficult because the image in her head doesn’t match up with the body on screen, “So, why is it in the desert, in the open like that? Oh, god… did they move it, then dump it there, is that what you’re telling me?”  
  
Sharpe decides he’s just going to be blunt. He’s not sure he can handle getting all emotional, trying to break the information in more gentle terms. He decides the direct approach will be easier. “Intel and post mortem on McIntyre, lead us to believe he was taken from the site of the explosion. Tortured. Then his body left for us to recover it”  
He pauses watching her, as she tries to make some sense of what he’s saying before he continues, “That Intel… it leads us to conclude that some others were possibly removed from the scene of the explosion.”

“Wait what?… Tortured? But, I .. I don’t understand.” she looks at the screen then back at him “So what are you saying, that they have Lucas’s body?” she shakes her head in confusion “You said tortured, why would they torture a dead body?” She frowns for a moment then she stops. “Oh god… he wasn’t dead was he? When they tortured him… he was alive.” She looks back at the screen then back at him “Ryan, what the hell are you saying?” Her breathing quickens, she gets anxious and she doesn’t know why but something inside her kicks at her guts, stirring deep feelings of dread. “Are you saying the others, that .. that Lucas might be alive? That they might be…oh my god!” She puts her hand to her mouth, she’s shaking from adrenaline “Oh my god, you are!” _Huh!_ She takes a deep sigh in as she tries to catch her breath. She’s nervous but weirdly excited as well “He might be alive?!”

“No!” he shakes his head stamping on her hope “No Ellie, you can’t think like that. There may be a _minimal _possibility, but it’s very slim, so do _not _get your hopes up!” he sighs “This is exactly why I asked you to leave yesterday… because I knew you’d think that - hope that. “He puts his hands on her arms staring her in the face “We believe his body was moved…” he takes another deep breath “Agent Ellis is working on the intel right now!”

She rubs her head confused “But, but why… why would they do that?”

“We don’t know yet.” he sighs watching her as his thoughts wander from this situation to her. To looking at her and her face and body, losing himself in those thoughts “Why? Most likely Propaganda. Frighten the locals - a warning to them or to stir up resistance to us. We really don’t know!”

“But Lucas, he could…. he could still be alive? If we can find them?”

He stops her words by putting his finger to her lips, brushing the loose strands of her hair back behind her ear “Ellie, I told you, you can’t think like that! You need to keep…”

“No… I mean you haven’t found his body yet then there’s still hope” Suddenly a wave of panic comes over her. Confusion that makes her head spin and she can’t understand what he’s trying to say - or what it means. “So what are we doing to find him? Is that where they’re going?” She thinks about the guys stood outside with their kit “Are you sending them to find him?” She’s suddenly hot and dizzy and her legs fail her - it’s all too much. All that grief she’s been dealing with -thinking he was dead. It’s now being reversed -with hope. Hope that he might be alive. She steadies herself clinging to the desk, sitting on the edge.  
  
“Ellie are you alright? Do you want some water?” he can see her face go pale, sweat beading on her forehead.

She shakes her head “No, no I’m fine!” her hand on her forehead wiping it as she tries to make this make sense “Why didn’t you tell me this yesterday!” She feels angry -cheated in some way ” You sent me out, instead of telling me?! And last night, last night you could have told me!”

He’s still holding her arms “I didn’t want to give you false hope. We didn’t know if it was his body then. I didn’t want you to see -on screen like that.”

She takes a breath “Okay…okay, I get it!” She looks him in the eyes and he can see the tears welling up in hers. She gets it -understand it. But she doesn’t know how to feel about it. “But could he be alive, that’s what you’re saying?” She shakes, as she looks at him leaning her forehead against his chest as large watery beads drop on her cheeks. Oh how she wishes she’d had more sleep. Her thoughts are running wild.

_Wes.. I need to tell Wes! I need to tell him there’s hope!_ _Can I tell Wes? Am I allowed? Who will know? I need tell him! He needs to know!_

  
She sucks back her tears as Ryan wraps his arms around “Ellie please, I know how much Lucas meant to you but .. don’t get your hopes up. Even if he is alive the chances of us getting him back before…. just don’t!”

Now her head fills with visions of him being captive and being hurt. _Tortured! Oh god, what will they do to him! S_he thinks about the time-span, how long he’s been gone, and imagining what they might do! “Oh shit!!” She starts to cry and Sharpe holds her tight. The strength of his arms holding her safe while he strokes her back, calming her. Then although Bravo and Alpha are only feet from them, only a door between them - it gives him a buzz of excitement. Adding in an element of risk - of danger. He kisses her.  
  
Just for a moment and a rush of blood she accepts his kiss and encourages it more. Then her senses snap back in and she pushes him away. “No… Ryan!” She feels hot and dizzy “I feel sick!” she takes deep breaths, moving away from him -pacing the room.

There’s a knock on the door which focuses both their minds. “Just wait!” Ryan’s authoritative tone answers the knock.

“Sir, I just wondered…” it’s Blackburn. They have stood for a while and he’s wondering what’s happening. Ryan goes to the door, he looks at him “I said…. WAIT! Do you not understand the word? Is it too English for you?”

“Sir!” Eric backs down and doesn’t question further, he can see Ellis is upset. “Sir… sorry… I didn’t realize”

Ryan’s now back in the room. Eric’s interruption has focused his attention as Ellis looks at him. She’s still in shock.

  
“You need to calm down and pull yourself together” He takes a breath “You need to do your job. We’re still waiting for Intel to come in and then _if _Lucas is alive, then we need to be doing our jobs, properly to get him back!”

“Yeah!” she sucks back her tears, nodding as she wipes her face. Pulling herself away from the grip of his hand, on her cheek “Yeah.. I’m good… I’m good!” She takes a breath as he gently kisses her lips again “Ryan, please stop!” She looks him deep in the eyes questioning him_. What the hell is he actually doing? They’re only just outside the door and he’s doing this! What’s wrong with him!_

“Sorry, I just can’t help it. I need you!” he looking at her” Ellie, I have to have you back in my life!”

She frowns, pushing him back “No! No, you need to stop this. - Stop all of this!” She wipes her face, gathering herself. “We’ve been through this, I mean it, no more!”   
She takes a deep breath, taking a firmer tone with him now “Ryan, this can’t happen, it’s too late!”

He smiles at her, watching her, stroking her face with his hand. He can see she’s not relenting and his mood changes “Fine… fine if that’s the way you want it. But whatever happens next, remember it’s you choosing this. Oh, but there’s one more thing I need you to do…”   
She frowns. The hand he was caressing her with takes hold of the side of her head more firmly and then he grips her tightly, holding her neck so she can’t move from him.  
She tries to avoid his gaze, but he’s hurting her, his grip holding much too firm and she puts her hand to his. “Ryan…” She tries to pull away “please you hurting me!”

“Look at me!” she quickly looks then looks away “I said… LOOK AT ME!”

She sighs, looking awkwardly at him. “What? What do you want Ryan, hmm.. what?!”

“I’ll tell you what I want. I want you to stop _fucking_ him - you and Hayes. I want that to stop!” His grip is one of anger and she tries to pull away, tearfully shaking her head. Angry with him, hurt and annoyed that he’s doing this after what he just told her “It’s not a request, Ellis. - I mean it! There _will_ be consequences if you don’t stop. Perhaps I can demonstrate.” he laughs.

She stares at him her breathing deep as she searches for some compassion. She’s worried now. “Ryan… please, what are you going to do?” She’s scared, shaking her head as a large tear drip from her eye, splashing against her hand.

You’ll see… " He lets her go and opens the door then calls both the teams into the room.  
  
She frantically wipes her face.Taking deep breaths, she turns around facing the wall at the back of the room, sucking in air trying to control her emotions. Her hands are shaking with worry, concerned about what he might do, She’s upset and confused “Could I take a minute?” she pleads with him

“No!… No, I don’t think so. - You stay right there. I want you to see this. See the control I have and the consequences of your actions.”

She closes her eyes, the lump in her throat painful. She turns her back again, desperately trying to gather her emotions. Glancing only once at the video screen, it reminds her about Lucas and now her chest fills with raw pain, it aches so much that it’s almost unbearable.  
  
The guys now all file into the room. They continue in silence. Not one of them dare utter a word. They know it will end with repercussions for their team. Grown ass men, too afraid of Sharpe - to speak. They continue their quiet, but they all feel awkward. Almost intrusive because they can all see Ellis is upset, and they can see the video screen.

  
Jason takes the deepest breath as he realizes Sharpe’s just told her about the ongoing situation and about Lucas. The others can make out her snuffles as she tries so hard to pull herself together. She won’t turn around, not while she’s like this, as she doesn’t want any of them to see her cry.  
  
Everyone shuffles awkwardly from foot to foot as they stand waiting.

“Gentlemen, good to see you all on time!” he smiles taking his time to look down the line of them all. “Ellis!” Sharpe breaks the silence as he calls her name.

She stands still, taking a deep breath and wiping her face. She doesn’t move, still keeping her back to them. Hoping the red in her cheeks and eyes will fade quickly. “Sir!” She slowly turns to face them all. The burn of at least a dozen pairs of eyes now on her.

“Ellis, I said pick a team!”

She looks at the guys, then back at Sharpe as her head furrows up “Sorry, what?!” She questions again what he’s asking her to do “Pick a team? I don’t understand”

“I want you to pick a team.” he turns sideways and looks at her “Is that too difficult? Pick… Bravo or Alpha!”

“For what?” she feels like it’s a trick question and the idea of picking when she’s not sure why makes her feel uncomfortable.

“Does it matter? Which team do you favor?” he looks at her and smiles “oh come on Ellis, pick one… Now!” he’s impatient.   
  
She looks at all their faces and frowns unsure of what’s going on, then she sees Damien look at her, his smarmy smile and she takes a breath and shrugs “Okay then… Alpha!” she closes her eyes, she’s nervous but it feels like a relief to answer.

Damien snorts with a laugh, he guessed what she’d do and Sharpe smiles. He looks at her then at Damien “Well, Sargent Major, looks like Alpha are off the hook!”

“What?” she frowns, “What the hell.. I don’t understand this? I don’t even know what I was choosing here. Off the hook? What does that mean?”

“I hope Alpha appreciate the favor Ellis just did you. Your inspection is cancelled!” he turns and smiles at Ellis “Sargent Major, if you will wait outside, the rest of your team is dismissed!”

“Huh!!” She lets out a breath as she looks at Sharpe then at Jason. She apologetically shakes her head. She really feels sick now realizing this was a game and that it didn’t matter who she picked. that he was controlling the end result. This was set up to punish Bravo, and her, in some way.

She drops her head as Sharpe continues to look at her. He smiles “Oh, we’re not done yet! Now I need you to pick two runners!”

She shakes her head “No!.. No I’m not doing this. I’m not playing this game!”

“I said…. pick two!”  
  
She stands silent, digging her heels in, not answering. Staring at him defiant, as he looks at his watch. “That’s another lap. Ellis, for every minute you delay I will add one lap to the total.”

Jason can see her face. Her dilemma “Ellis, it’s okay! Just say two names, it’s fine!” Jason can make a guess what Sharpe has in store “It doesn’t matter!”

Sharpe’s fuming now “Master Chief! When I want your input, I will ask for it! Do we understand each other? And for your insolence you just gained yourself another other lap.”

Sonny closes his eyes; _I wish Jason and Clay would just keep their mouths shut! Because I have a feeling of some real bad Ju-Ju right now!”_

Sharpe looks at his watch again. She takes another shaky breath wondering whether to still hold out._. Oh you son of a bitch! - _is what she wants to say out loud, as she stares at him. She takes a breath, closing her eyes. “Jason and…”

She waivers as Sharpe interrupts her “Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot to say. Master Chief Hayes - he’s already running! I just need you to pick two of his team.”

_Why are you doing this? _She finds it hard to make eye contact with any of them but as she glances up her eyes meet Clay’s, and he nods telling her it’s okay, that none of them will blame her.

“I would hurry Ellis that’s another lap you just added. This will get very for them hard soon.”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep, deep breath. “Clay..” she names him first then takes another breath, shaking her head as Sharpe continues to smile “Oh damn it.. Sonny then..” She doesn’t know why. Maybe it’s just that she knows those two better than the others. She knows it won’t matter. I’m sorry… her head drops.

“Well done, now that wasn’t so hard -was it?” he smiles “So… we have our runners now we need to know why we’re running., and that’s because insolence and insubordination will not be tolerated. Do you understand that… Mr Spenser? Do you all understand that behavior like we’ve had this week will not be tolerated? I earned this rank and I will damn well have it respected! Are we clear?”

“Yes Sir!” comes back the reluctant reply from them all.

“Commander Blackburn, your runners will complete ten perimeter laps of the base. Sorry, no my mistake, thirteen… I almost forgot the three extra -Ellis added with her dithering,”

She puts her head down, feeling guilty, as he stands beside her. Whilst thirteen laps doesn’t sound far, considering the distance of the base perimeter and the desert heat - it’s quite a grueling punishment even for them.

“Sir, could I just say I don’t…” Blackburn tries to intervene. He’s slightly pissed that his command authority is being ignored.

“I’m sorry Commander, no you can’t… you need to get the rest of this rabble ready for inspection. Bravo dismissed! Oh, Master chief Hayes, you need to wait - I need a word.” He turns looking at Ellis “Baxter you’re dismissed. Go find something to entertain yourself with today, Bravo won’t be needing your input for the rest of today!”

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Passing Damien as he waits in the corridor outside the briefing room. They look at each other but don’t speak. She leaves, making her way back down the hallway. When she gets to the office, she pushes the door shut, and cries.

  
She’d been determined to be in control today and now Ryan’s somehow taken that away from her. She’s angry, with herself, with Damien and mostly with.. him.   
She takes a few moments for some quiet reflection. Sitting on the edge of the desk, calming herself. She can’t help but let thoughts of Lucas creep into her mind, and it makes her feel hot, nervous and dizzy - sick, for real.  
Taking the trash container from the corner of the room, she leans over it and reaches. urrghh! she coughs, as the bile from her nerves rises in the back of her throat. She continues to hang over the plastic bucket and whiles she’s not physically sick, she sits down to rest. Her head in her hands.

“Oh shit…” her thoughts return to Lucas and wondering what to do. “I need to see Wes!”


	29. Quit whining Sonny!

"Master Chief Hayes!" Sharpe smiles "I'm disappointed. Disappointed by you, by your team, by your abject lack of respect for the chain of command!"  
  
Pausing and taking a deep sigh he studies Jason as stands there "You know, I heard about your reputation. That you weren't good at following orders, that you had your own _style_ for getting things done! Now I also see, it’s a culture you're encouraging in your team. Well let me tell you now, it's not one I will tolerate, not while I'm in command! You step out of line, it's me you will answer to! Do you understand me Master Chief?"

Eric's standing silently behind Sharpe. He was asked to remain in the briefing room after everyone else left, and now he's finding this dressing down rather embarrassing, and apart from the odd glance, he tries to avoid, the awkward, eye contact with Jason.

"Sir, I don't think that..."

"And once again, you open your mouth, just to prove me right!" Sharpe smiles "You know what I think? I'll tell you. I think, you need to stop getting distracted, involving yourself in things that you shouldn't! Perhaps concentrate instead on running your team."   
  
He takes a moment watching Jason's reaction, just staring at him. Jason catches his gaze a couple of times, each time looking away quickly, trying not to let him get a read of him.   
  
"Hopefully, the time you spend today developing your fitness, will give you time for reflection. Think about where you're going wrong!"

Jason gets this knot in his stomach _Oh my god! What the hell is he going on about?   
_Sharpe is, angling for something, something more than Bravo's behaviour, more than discipline issues. Jason suspects what it is but he can't say.

"Get your team ready for inspection, Master Chief!" he looks at Eric by his side "Commander Blackburn, ensure my instructions are carried out!"  
He pauses biting his lip, still just watching Jason. They both stare at each other, a thick cloud of testosterone, hangs over them as they both clash for dominance. "You're dismissed!"

Eric turns, closing his eyes, he can't look at Jason. He has no clue as to why Sharpe is going this overboard, but this is not the time to try and add a defense.

"Sir, thank you sir!"   
It takes all Jason's self-discipline to answer politely, before he turns to the door and leaves.   
In his time, he's come across some differing cake eaters, some he liked, some he didn’t but so far Sharpe takes the award for biggest _Asshole! _

"Oh, before you go, one more thing! You will be out of here in a couple more weeks, don't let the temptation for excitement overshadow your deployment! If I were you, I would consider putting an _end_ to any bad influences that may be..._distracting_ you!"

Jason looks at him, and there's the confirmation, that this is more than about Spenser's behaviour. This is personal, and Jason knows it.

"Commander Blackburn, dismissed!"   
Blackburn has no idea what he's talking to Jason about but still it's best not to question it. He just salutes and follows Jason out of the door.

_  
_As Jason leaves he acknowledges Damien. He's still stood just outside the briefing room door. 

It’s obvious from the look on his face that he heard the whole conversation  
"JASON!" Damien calls to him "I'm sorry! What he just did, it was a shit thing to do and ... well look, I'm sorry!"   
  
Jason nods " Thanks, but it's not your fault! Guess Bravos just got in his line of fire! I'll catch you later!"   
  


Sharpe comes out of the briefing room "Sargent Major, a word!"   
He and Jason exchange final glances before he calls Damien back into the now empty room.  
  
"Sir!" Damien rolls his eyes at Jason before he disappears inside and Jason quickly leaves. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Sargent Major, would seem that Alpha squadron have an easy day of it now! Was nice of Ellis to choose your team don’t you think, I wonder if I’m too easily influenced by her?" He smirks at Damien "Then again, maybe she had nothing to do with it whatsoever. Maybe the outcome was already set, what do you think?"  
  
He smiles again, at close quarters now and it's making Damien squirm awkwardly.   
"This is the one and only warning I will give you!" he stares hard in his eyes " You go anywhere near Ellis again, never mind touch her, and I will show _you_, and _your_ team, how much influence on outcomes I have! Do I make myself clear, Sargent Major?"

Damien hesitates, so many comments whirl in his head, but his experience know, not to voice any of them "Yes Sir, we're clear!"  
  
"Good! Now understand this, you pushed things to an unacceptable limit before and I won't let you do it again!"

"Sir!" Damien looks up "Sir.... I don't think it's_ my_ team you have to worry about!"

Sharpe smiles "I don't have to worry about anything. You on the other hand... " He pauses staring Damien deep in the eyes " you should worry. You should hope that Bravo fail their inspection, that _they_ remain the focus of my attention."

"Sir…" Damien frowns concerned "Alpha is still exempt… from inspection, you haven't changed your mind regarding that?"   
  
"Not unless something gives me reason to, is there a reason I should change my mind?"

"No sir!"  
  
"Then as I say, while Bravo continue to create problems, I wouldn't see any reason my attention would be distracted to look more closely at your team" He takes a breath "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do!"   
  
Sharpe smiles and walks away, then he stops again in the doorway and turns to face Damien again "Oh, and for the record Sargent major, I don't worry about anyone!"

Damien laughs to himself. _What an arsehole! _

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Alpha squadron are feet up in their bunks, enjoying the privileges of the R and R day, no threat of inspection hanging over them.

Harry’s on his phone, while Tom’s sleeping.

"Harry!"

"Hey boss,” he look round as Damien stands in the doorway “So, what's happening? You get a bollocking from Sharpe?"

"No, no nothing much!" Damien shakes his head.   
He holds the top of the door frame while he stands there, he's biting his lip thinking about what Sharpe said to him "I think he has his mind elsewhere, for the moment, I want to keep it that way!”

Harry frowns, he looks at Tom, they both shrug "What are you thinking, boss? Something you want us to do?"

"You know….” He sighs “I don't trust him, Sharpe, not to pull some surprise inspection! Tell the others, let’s keep it tight, make sure we above and beyond. I want to keep Bravo the centre of his attention. Him and Hayes are on course for a clash soon, and the younger one... he's a bit of a hot head, they've already had a run in, let's umm… let’s expediate another one!"

“Spenser?” Harry frowns, He quite likes Spenser, but his loyalty is to Damien and Alpha “What you thinking boss?"

“I'm thinking… let's press some buttons! You know, see what happens, see how trigger happy he is for a fight. Keep the limelight on him, keep him centre stage, bring him to Sharpe's attention again!" he smiles

Harry frowns “And there was me thinking we were all supposed to be getting along now!”   
Tom laughs.

“Yeah we are!" Damien smiles " I’m gonna be Hayes best friend! We’re just gonna have some fun with the rest of his team, that's all! See how he handles the heat!”

Harry laughs and Tom smiles. "Yeah heats got be one word for it! Running those laps… out there, today…. that's sure as hell gonna be hot! YOu know tempers get frayed really easily in the heat!"

"Yeah well keep that in mind! While Sharpe’s focused on them, it won’t be us running those laps!"

Harry laughs "Sure, like you say ...it's just a bit of fun, pass the time, hey Tom!"

Tom sits up in his bunk "No time like the present!"

“Okay!” Damien smiles, his team are well trained, loyal as hell and they all stick together “"Harry, one thing... just make sure there’s nothing comes back on us, alright!"

"Yeah, sure thing! You know us, we’re Alpha we can handle it!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

Sonny's moaning already and they've only done half the laps.   
Every sip of bottled water on each fluids break, is interspersed with a moan followed by a complaint. "Oh jeez .. I'm that wet! I bet I’ve lost twenty pounds"   
  
The sweat is dripping from him, his vest and shorts are wet through, all their faces flushed red with heat from the sun.   
"You know, I don’t know why I got picked for this, surely it was Ray’s turn, I mean I had nothing to do with it. To be honest it’s all Spenser’s fault, keep mouthing off and throwing punches. What the hell got into you anyways?"

"Sonny, just drink and shut the hell up! We're all feeling it, let’s just get it done!"

Sonny laughs "Yeah it’s okay for you, but you keep this up, Blondie and you gonna find yourself on a one-way ticket out of here, with no hope of coming back!”   
He drinks again glugging back the whole bottle in one go “What the hell is he so pissed about anyways, Jason?"

“I don't know!” Jason turns away, drinking his water down, he doesn’t want to even consider what Sharpe's problem is.

“You don't know?...Well I’ll tell ya, the kid here, going around picking fights with the Brits, back talking Sharpe, yeah that might have something to do with us running in an over hundred degrees! I could be R and R'ing it right now instead of this!"   
He sips his water, taking his hat off, the white salt line round the inside clearly visible as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. "Jeez man it’s too hot for this! ... You know ….”

“You know what Sonny..." Clay interrupts “ …all you do is complain! It’s a few laps, just quit whining!”

He shakes his head furious with Clay before he starts running again, needing to get away before his anger boils over   
“Next time, hopefully she'll pick someone else, cos I’m not doing this again because of you Golden boy! I guess Ray and Trent have got their feet up, while I’m out here hotter than firecracker lit both ends!”

“There you go again still whining!" Clay and Jason following behind him " Anyway the state your bunk, I hope they're cleaning up, or I get the feeling these won’t be the only laps we'll be running and that will be your fault!”

“You know, Clay, you should just learn to keep your mouth shut!...I just wish I knew what the hell you did say to piss him off so much!”

Clay shrugs “I don't know how this is my fault, I can't remember saying anything to him, it was Damien I had issue with!”

“Yeah what the hell was that all about?” Jason frowns

“Nothing!" for a moment Clay ponders telling them both, about why he has a problem with Damien, then he remembers his promise to Wes "It don't matter .. it was just somethings he said to Wes. Not important!"

“Not important?!” Sonny laughs he stops Clay in his tracks and gets up close in his face, their both breathing hard. "Not important! Well seems like it was pretty damn important from where I’m standing, here dealing with third degree burns! Seems like there was something pretty damn important!"

Jason pushes them apart “Look, Sonny's right. Just keep it zipped around those Brits from now on! The less trouble we encourage the better!”

Clay looks at his watch “Let's just get this done, if we push on we might at least get to enjoy the afternoon!”

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

They're on the very last lap when they hear jeering and clapping, it's Alpha squadron sitting on crates like spectators, making comments.  
Sonny starts growling again, he’s shattered the last thing he wasn’t to deal with is this.

“Hey, pretty boy… Spenser!” Harry whistles to him “I hope she was worth it!” he laughs

Clay turns and looks as they all come to a stop. Sonny tipping water over his head trying to cool down.   
"Just ignore them!” Jason glares and holds Clay back, handing him more water to drink.   
He drinks his own down, he certainly felt that last lap and he’s not up for a confrontation right now.   
  
“You hear me!” Harry calls again “You know… I hear she's a good fuck!”  
  
Clay stops and taking a breath. What he just said, he can’t leave it now. Slowly walks over to them “What did you say?”

“I said.. I hope she’s good in the sack, having to do this…all this running in the heat. I hope she’s worth it!”

Clay’s eye to eye with him “Me and Ellis is that what you're talking about?...There’s nothing going on, but I don’t appreciate you talking about her like that so take it back!... Apologise!”

Sonny lays in the sand, it’s covering and sticking to his sweaty body. “Oh Man! Jeez Clay just leave it!!” _ I just need a shower not this!_

"I said take it back and apologise!”

"Oooo look boys, someone defending his territory there!… Is she good then, you can tell me?” Harry smiles at him, goading Clay “You know you must be something special, because I heard she only fucked officers!”

Clay pushes him “You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”

"No, no of course I don’t. Why do you think Sharpe’s so pissed at you?"

Clay shrugs "Who knows, maybe he got out the bed the wrong side? I don’t know, I don't care!"

Harry laughs at Clay's flippant answer "Cos you’re straying into his territory, that’s why!"

  
Clay frowns "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Come on Clay.. he’s been banging her like forever! Ask Damien .. he should know, we were on the next plane out when he crossed the line! You know you wanna be careful, this is just the start. He can make things pretty tough around here!”

"I’m not sleeping with her!”

Harry laughs “Sure you keep telling yourself that! I guess from all this running, Sharpe's not buying it! .... You know she is a pretty hot fuck, quite adventurous from what I’ve seen”

Clay’s getting mad now "What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

Harry laughs “The video Damien’s got his phone, her fucking some guy... it's pretty hot stuff!”   
He takes a deep breath he can see the look on Clay’s face and he prepares himself because he knows what’s coming as he pokes him some more   
“I don’t know for sure but…. rumour has it the guy in the video, is Sharpe … you know banging her! It's some pretty fiery viewing!”

"What the hell!.. A video, Damien's ...."Clay shakes his head disgusted "You do know what he did?” Clay pushes Harry in the chest as Tom comes and stands beside him.  
  
"Leave it Tom, I can handle this prick!" he pushes Clay back "No… I know what she said he did.. but she never made it official did she .. why was that? Hmmm.. ask yourself”  
He smiles and as Clay looks at him he's giving the same smarmy look that Damien gives and he can ‘t contain himself as he punches him hard in the face. Then they’re both on the floor rolling around.

"Oh Jesus!" Sonny’s up on his feet and Jason’s running over as they split them up. Tom is holding Harry back as he screams abuse at Clay. Clay calling him "A son of a bitch!"

Hearing the noise Damien’s there standing between them “What the hell is going on!”

Harry smiles. " I don’t know ask him .. he got the arse not me! Just telling him about that video you’ve got of his new little slapper and .. and he lost it!”   
Harry holds his jaw, it was quite a punch that Clay swung, and his lip is cut and bleeding.

"Jesus Christ! .. Harry, go get cleaned up!" Damien frowns “Jason what the hell is going on here?”

Jason shakes his head “ I don’t know …"   
Just as he lets Clay go, he’s gone from his grasp and he lands a hell of a crack on Damien’s chin. Damien drops to the ground, dazed from the unexpected punch.

"You son of bitch! You’re sick .. you know that!"

Damien frowns "What the hell are you going on about?”

"I know!! "Clay screams at him "I know what you did! .. but a video?! ... that you pass around your friends!

Damien laughs "No, not my friends, just my team .. same as any of you would!” he smiles

Clay rubs his head he’s fuming, and just as he's about to hit Damien again, Jason grabs hold of him and chucks him down on the floor "CLAY!!! What the hell has got into you!”

It's a heated mess of sweating hot headedness, all shouting and potential punches waiting to be thrown.

Then they all stop. A cool, calm, clear voice interrupts the brawl "Would someone care to explain what the hell is going on here?”

"Oh no!" Jason’s heart sinks as Sharpe stands there with Eric. Eric scratching his head he can’t believe what he’s witnessing, not after everything that's been said this morning.

Sonny sits in the sand with his head in his hand “Jeez! Man oh man!”

Sharpe looks at Clay then at Damien “You two, my office now!”   
Sharpe looks at them all concentrating his hardest glare on Jason “The rest of you get yourselves cleaned up!” He turns to walk away "Commander Blackburn, get this mess sorted out!" 

"What the hell, brother!" Ray’s standing there, he rolls his eyes " I was just coming to ask how it was going but…. “ he shakes his head “What the hell was that all about?”

“I really don’t know!” Jason sinks down into the sand, he drinks more water, throwing the bottle down as he puts his face in his hands causing the sand on them to stick to his sweat. He has a million things running through his mind right now but then he looks at Ray “Please tell me the inspection went okay though?”

Ray shrugs “I don't know .. He didn't turn up!”

“What?” Jason frowns “What the hell, why not?”

"I don’t know man, we were already, but nothing, not a word! Personally, I think it was just a control thing ... keep us on our toes! I don't think he had any intention of inspecting, just my opinion, brother but .. that, that’s not gonna help our case!”

“That guy is such an asshole!” Sonny’s fuming with everything he’s hot, but mostly he's annoyed with Clay “You know that boy is going to get us in serious trouble here!.... You need to reign him in Jason. Start by finding out what his problem is! Somethin’ is seriously griping at him!”   
Sonny stands up “ I need to clean up and I need a beer!”

Jason looks at himself, his wet T-shirt covered in sand, smelling of sweat "Yeah me too! Then I need to sort this mess out!”

"Jace…” Ray holds Jason back “You know Sharpe is way beyond pissed with us...."  
He looks around making sure no one is in earshot ".. look I don’t wanna gossip man but.. rumor is he’s … “he coughs “ you know with Ellis! .. You think this got anything to do with you and _not _Clay?”

“I don’t know Ray… maybe! But Clay can’t carry on like this …Whatevers eating him with Damien, I need to sort it out”

Ray sighs, his intuition tells him it's not that either “I warned you, you were playing with fire there,Jason! Brother, you can’t go up against him... you won’t win!”

Jason shakes his head, ignoring Ray “ I need a shower!”

"Jace… Jason!!” Ray sighs shaking his head, wondering how they’re going to sort this mess. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Wes is in the stores when Jason enters. He’s clean from the shower “You know where Ellis is? I’ve looked everywhere?”

Wes think about it for a minute "What is it the look for Ellis day?....You know I'm not her keeper!"

“What?" Jason frowns at Wes's attitude " All I asked is if you know where she is, she’s not answering her cell and I need to speak to her! I … I just wanna check she was alright after Sharpe's little stunt this morning and, if she's still pissed at me over last night!”

Wes laughs “Oh it was you, I wondered why she was so upset last night! Perhaps it would be better if you all just leave her the hell alone!"

“Look, I err… I know … I just lost track of the time last night! Do you know where she is or not? I wanna make it up to her!”

Wes takes a breath and calms down “Sorry!” he sighs "Don't mind me, just you're not the only one been looking for her!”

Jason frowns

“Sharpe, he's been on her case... trying to track her down! I don't know what for. She just told me she didn't wanna see anyone, but I guess she'll probably make an exception for you!”

“So, you do know where she is?”

Wes nods and laughs “Yeah I do!”

He points upwards and Jason frowns looking up at the ceiling “What’s that supposed to mean?” he frowns “Up … up where?”

“The roof!”   
Wes laughs at the confused look on Jason’s face “Come on, I’ll show ya! …Oh and bring that bottle of sunscreen off the counter!”


	30. Hot sex and sunscreen

**Probably need to warn you this is a Smutty Chapter!!**

**You can get away with skipping it if it's not your thing as it won't really affect the storyline!  
(apart from showing the intensity of the developing relationship between Jason & Ellis)**

Wes leads him to the back of the stores.  
Perched against the wall, meeting the point where the roof slopes down to it's lowest point, is a step ladder.

"There you go!"

"What?" Jason frowns "She's up there?"

"Umm humm!"

Jason frowns, even more confused "What the hell's she doing on the roof?"

Wes laughs as he watches his expressions as he tries to work out what's going on. "Cos it's the best sunbathing spot on the whole damn base!" he smiles again "See the way the roof slopes, the balustrade round, no one can see you up there, well... apart from the helo pilots! But flights are grounded today, so no worries on that!"  
  
Wes indicates towards the ladder "Go on then!"

Jason frowns still confused as he gets on the first rung and Wes lets out a loud whistle "Ellis!! ...You got a visitor!" He smiles at Jason "She's all yours! Oh and before I forget!" He hands him the bottle of sunscreen from his back pocket "Make sure she puts enough on; I know what she's like!"   
He smiles and walks away.

Jason climbs the ladder to the top of the roof and as he's about to climb over the wooden edging, he sees her and stops where he is so he can watch her.  
She's covered the small roof space with towels, and there she is laid in the center of them, naked.

She has her headphones in so neither hears him nor the whistle from Wes.  
  
He stands at the top he just keeps staring at her, it's causing a feeling in his shorts to stir. After the punishing run of early he'd showered and, thankfully, only slipped some loose shorts and a clean white T-shirt on. Right now, he was glad he hadn't chosen anything more restrictive.  
  
Everything he had in his head that he was going to ask her, to discuss with her, he now forgets, and he just stands there watching her, mesmerized by her naked, bronzed flesh.  
  
As Jason climbs up and over the wooden edging, his shadow blocks the sunlight. Slightly startled she opens her eyes and sits up  
"What the hell!" she sighs in relief as she sees Jason standing there "Oh, jeez, you made me jump! I told Wes to not tell anyone where I was!"

"Did that include me?" he frowns

"No!" she smiles "No, not you!"

"err mm...." he looks at the sunscreen bottle "Wes, gave me this, said you need to put some on!"

She laughs and holds up the bottle she has sitting beside her "He worries too much!"

  
"Are you okay up here? It's so damn hot!"

"Umm hmmm.... that's the idea!" She frowns as she watches him. So many things she needs to talk to him about, but she just smiles, staring at him as he watches her "What?" she frowns at the look on his face.

"Now I know how you do it?"

She laughs shading the sun from her eyes with her hand so she can see his expression "Do what?"

"Get no tan lines!!" he laughs "It's what I first noticed, when I saw you without your clothes, that you never had any tan lines, I couldn't think where on earth you'd get enough privacy here to ... well you know, get naked enough!"

"And that's the first thing you noticed about me?" she laughs "Well, now you know my secret!" She smiles again, the smiles on both their faces as they teasingly flirt,with each other.   
  
"So..." she sighs changing the subject away from them "How'd your run go?"

He nods "Oh you know ...hot, sweaty...long! Oh ....and Clay got in a fight!"

"He did?" she frowns "With who? What the hell happened, is he all right?"

"Oh, don't ask. I don't know what the hell's going on with that boy, but he swung a couple of punches at Harry and Damien!" he rubs his head, the heat of the sun on it "I will get to the bottom of it" he can see the concerned look on her face "But for now, don't' worry!"

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know what he was playing at, Ryan, what he was going to do! You know, it didn't matter who I picked; he was always going to do what he wanted!"

"Yeah I know." He sighs "Sonny, on the other hand, he's pretty pissed...I've had enough of his whining today!" he laughs "Maybe next time you could pick someone else?"

"Noted!" she laughs "You know if you're coming up, then you need to, unless you're intent on getting seen?"

"I don't know if I want to move from here, the view is pretty good!" he smiles, watching her, checking her over as she sits there naked, leaned back, resting on her elbows, relaxed in his presence.

She smiles as she watches him looking at her "Yeah not a bad view from here either!"   
She puts her foot up massaging his groin, feeling his hardness with her toes. He closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling but it's only making his swelling in his shorts so much worse. _Oh man that feels good!_  


He puts his hand down on the roof to crawl closer towards her. As he does he touches the roof felt outside the towel island she's created for herself   
"Oww!" he frowns "How the hell hot is that!"

She laughs "You need to stay on the towels, that's what there for, stupid!"  
She keeps watching him, searching his face. Now she wants him touching her, and she beckons him towards her "Come here!"  
  
He doesn't need any encouragement as he strokes his hand on the bronzed, naked flesh of her leg and thigh, pushing her bent knees apart so he can rest his body in the space between.  


His shorts groan under the strain of the swelling pressure from the hardness between his legs.  
Just looking at her laid there with nothing on, it's enough to invoke a stiffness without her even touching him. He stares at her breasts, so perfect and tanned and she lays back, displaying them, offering herself to him.  
He so desperately wants to touch her "You know Wes said you need some of this on?" he holds up the bottle of sunscreen.  
  
She nods, laughing "He did, did he! Okay, you wanna put it on for me?" she bites her lip, flirting with him, teasing and tempting him.  
  
He smiles "Oh I want!"  
Fact is he can't wait to get his hands on her and he squeezes a large blob of the white thick cream into his hand, and some into the middle of her toned stomach. She flinches, ever so slightly, as the cool cream touches her hot flesh.  
  
"Mmmm!" She groans, laying back, flat against the towels, as he starts to move it around.  
Running it between his fingers as he spreads it over her. Working the rich creaminess across her breasts, the feel of it in his fingers and the smooth of her naked flesh it's the biggest turn on he can imagine.  
He closes his eyes for a moment, trying to regain some control over his body as she sink back against the towels, relaxed by his touch "Ohhh!!! " she groans "That's so good!"  
  
He's enjoying touching her, as he leans forward touching his lips gently on hers, kissing her. She's pulling at his neck holding him to her, locked in the kisses as he continues to massage her.  
  
The more he smooths the milky liquid over her body, the more he can feel her writhing to his touch, wanting, shuddering in anticipation for the firmness of his hand movements.  
Her hot, sun-drenched body tingles with sensations. She's craving more, putting her hand to the back of his head, her fingers in his hair, pulling him towards her.  
  
She's needy with want. Her body aching to be touched, remembering how frustrated he left her last night. Searching his face, telling him she wants him with silent lust filled looks.  
  
Everything about stopping this, what Sharpe told her, is now gone from her thoughts  
"Jason...." she's breathless. She wants to tell him so much but where to start.  
  
He silences her. Kissing his lips firm against hers. She can't get enough of him, absorbed in his smell, his touches, his firm body on top of hers. "Shhh! It doesn't matter, not now!"  
Whatever he thinks she needs to tell him he stops her. They don't need words and he covers her mouth with his, the tingling sensation of those kisses, turning them both on even more.  
  
Now he just wants to fuck her, take her, have himself inside her.  
His hands gripping at her softness, needing her so very much. But he can't rush because he doesn't want it to be over, so he holds back, not giving in to his needs yet. Getting as much pleasure from touching her as she is receiving it.  
But he groans as it takes all his discipline not to escape his shorts and just give her it. She's begging him, he can see how much she's wanting him. Her eyes flicker from side to side searching him asking him to give in to her.  
  
He smiles, he can see the pleasure that his touches are creating. Smoothing more of the sunscreen over her nipples, using both hands to massage her breasts with it, she responds with more soft groans and he squeezes more firmly. His touches almost hurt now a fine line between being pain or pleasure, but the moans and needy groans that escape her lips, gives him all he permission he needs to carry on.  
  
The more firmly he kneads her breasts the more she arcs her back towards him. His fingers tugging firmly at the small buds in the centre of each beautiful flesh mounds and she responds to the painful touches, enjoying the electric pulses they send down her body.  
The more she responds, the firmer he grips at her, adding pressure, rubbing, pulling the little hard lumps between his finger and thumb.  
It's the one big turn on, that she's told him before, that she really enjoys! The firmer he is the more wet and wanting it makes her. The flush in her face making that enjoyment obvious.  
  
She closes her eyes savouring every single pulse of sexual electricity coursing through her veins. A hot mess of sensations, running down her body from her chest to her thighs.  
  
He trails the sunscreen lower down her body, mixing it with the wet from between her sun heated legs. The smooth of her shaved mound beckons him in and his fingers run along the wet line between her thighs.  
He's poised over her sex starved bud, touching it gently, reminding her again of last night and what she missed, what she wanted so badly and how he'd left her in utterly unsatisfied. "Oh god yeah!!" She groans totally aching now, encouraging him to touch her more.  
  
He smiles at how turned on he's made her "Mmmm...someone wants this!"  
  
She nods "You know I do!" she's breathless, panting her words "I want you inside me!"  
All she wants right now is him between her legs, thrusting his hard, giving her it, relieving her frustrations "Jason, please!!" she begs him as she opens her legs wider wanting him.  
  
He can feel his body groaning against his shorts, also begging to be set free. And where last night he wanted control over her pleasure, a lesson in self control now, after the physical exertion of today, all he can imagine is his hard thickness in her wet, tight space, him fucking her.  
  
She's so wet and wanting now he throws the bottle of sunscreen to one side. The slippery grease on her stomach glistens in the sunlight.  
And he imagines his load looking like that on her body as he gives in, pulling his T- Shirt over his head, laying his bare chest against hers. The feel of her breasts and nipples, pert and hard against the tautness of his chest, it turns him on so much.  
  
She's so soft, and so wet, the only thing he's thinking about is taking her and he runs his fingers in her warmth, pushing one in, probing , checking with her that she wants this.  
  
"Mmmm!" she nods agreeing to it, as he enters a second. Thrusting his hand hard against her as she groans. Then as the pleasure takes over she grinds her wanting body against him, aching for him to thrust his hand again, filling her. But it's not enough, it's not the satisfaction she wants "Fuck me Jason! Please .. don't leave me like this! I want you...mmmm!"  
  
Her begging encourages him and thrust his fingers harder. Her warm soft against the strength of his hands movement, though he worries that if he continues this that he might explode before he even enters her.  
  
"Aahhhhh!" She flinches, and quietly groans. Putting her hand on his, stopping him for a moment, that thrust, it was harder, more wanting than she was expecting, and it takes what little breath she has, forcing it out.  
He smiles watching her. Her face giving away every sign of her pleasure, but also the pain of her want for him and now he can't hold out.  
  
Sitting back, he awkwardly pulls his shorts off one handed, so he doesn't have to stop pleasuring her and then she takes his thickness, in her sunscreen covered hand, pulling that hardness between her legs, as he uses his arms to hold himself over her.  
The shadow he creates blocking the sun from her body as he settles between her legs, then guided by her hand, in one quick move he thrusts hard against her  
"Arghhhhh! Oh god, yes!!!" she cries at the feeling of him filling her, it satisfies her need, he thrusts again and again but they both want more, he wants to enjoy her more, bury himself deeper inside her.  
  
"Turn over"  
She frowns at him as she moves her legs, untangling her from around him so she's on her hands and knees. He looks up, remembering how exposed they are up here on the roof "You sure no one can see us?"

She laughs "No, it's fine! Relax, see the way the roof is that wooden barrier, you can't see anything!"  
  
He does relax as runs his cream covered hands over her ass cheeks, pulling and massaging as she thrusts back towards him "Oh god, you're so gorgeous!"  
He pulls at her now free breast, taking the weight of each one in his hands, pulling at her nipples making her grimace in pleasure.  
He nips at them hard, pulling. His aim to make her squeal in pain because he knows she likes it. "ahhh!!" she smiles "Oh god, yes!!"  
She closes her eyes, putting her hand down, guiding him inside her, while he keeps massaging her. "Ahhh!"  
The first thrust positioned like this makes her feel so tight, not relaxed and it sends shivers down him "Oh god, Ellis!!!....Mmmm!"  
  
He leans his cheek against her back, using his arm around her waist, under her stomach pulling her tighter towards him. He wants her and can't hold back now, pulling her as tight against him, getting as deep inside her he can.  
Filling all her tightness with the whole of his length. His sack like two small rocks pushing hard against her. it's uncomfortable and then as he pulls back out the pleasure seeps in, then he's there again, deeper and harder "Aahhhhh!!!"  
  
She closes her eyes, rocking her hips back and forward as he holds still, leaning back so he can watch, as she fucks against him. His hands on her ass gripping and massaging, thinking there's only one other thing that might be better than this tight deepness, but he knows that's not for today.  
  
"Oh god!! the heat from the sun is burning on his shoulders and part of him imagines how burnt he might be if they carry on too long . So now there's more urgency as he starts to fuck her.  
He wants to fuck her so hard, to make her cry out, make her beg him to stop, he wants to her cry in pleasure and pain at the same time.  
While he's concentrating on holding her hips pushing in with deep thrusts, fucking her, she has her hand on her clit stimulating it, rubbing with the pressure and pace she likes.  
  
She's an expert at finding her level and she can feel the ebb and flow of the peak. She lets herself come to almost full orgasm and then backs off, only to do it again, the pleasure is intense and now she can't hold, she's going to let herself go. Grinding her teeth to the circles of pleasure she can feel with her fingers "Oh..... . Oh yeah!! Jason... I'm .. I'm gonna come!"  
  
Her pants make him thrust faster and harder, and then he feels it, her body peaks and tenses, she holds her breath, giving short pants as the sensations change, allowing the orgasm to wash over her whole body. He can feel it as everything tightens around him, her grip clinging at his thigh, pulling him against her.  
Her breasts, both peaking at the same time and then she relaxes.  
  
That give him permission to get what he wants, his own satisfaction and he thrusts hard and rapid as she supports herself. Her head and shoulders laid against the towels, just concentrating on holding firm while he rides her hard, a few more times.  
It's so intense and so controlled and she's not sure how much she'll last. Her body over sensitive and aching to his touches, exhausted now after its own moment of enjoyment.  
  
Then right on the edge he pulls out, quickly turning her over on to her back. It's just what he's wanted to do since he saw her covered in the sunscreen and he puts her hand round him, getting her to fuck him with it until it's his hot white cream covering her stomach and breasts.  
  
"Oh god!" he savors the moment, she looks amazing, a hot fucked mess or him and sunscreen. He is so satisfied and he smiles watching her smile back.  
  
Then she laughs "You know I don't think that's a very good sunscreen!" He also laughs taking a towel wiping her, cleaning her up before collapsing beside her.  
  
She smiles in contented glory. Kissing him, her leg wrapped over his, stroking his bright red shoulders "You know we need to get off this roof you are so burnt!!"  
She can't believe how happy she feels right now, so happy it scares her. Wrapped in him, kissing him, after sex contentment. Enjoying him.  
  
He's watching her eyes, as they trace over his face. His head is confused, a riot of emotions  
_Oh god!_ _I think I'm falling for her! _He leans in and kisses her. "Well, it has to be back to yours then, cos my place is getting turned over at some point today!"

"Really?" she frowns not quite sure what he means "Hmmm! You in my bed, now that's a challenge completed!"

"Well I'm warning you..." he kisses her touching her over sensitive nipples again, making her flinch "...I'm gonna fuck you so bad in that bed!" he stares her hard in the eyes "Just know that!"

"Again?" She smiles and kisses him softly, a kiss full of hope, so full of yearning passion.

She watches him as he puts his Tee shirt on. As she watches him these strange unwanted feeling come over her. She tries to shake it off. Picking her own T shirt and shorts up to get dressed.  
  
"You better go first!" She indicates to the ladder, running her hands through her matted hair, she smiles at him, pulling her shorts up. She can't believe how wrong this is, but she doesn't care she just wants more.


	31. You loved it once!

He takes her hand as she climbs down the ladder. It's not that she needs help, just he feels right doing it. Putting his hands on her waist, holding her.   
They both look nervously around before he kisses her. Leaning her against the shaded part of the wall, he can't contain himself, his mouth over hers still wanting her so much.   
  
She smiles as she runs her hand on his shoulders, they're so pink, and rapidly turning a deepening red color. Burnt from the sun being on them too long, while they made love.   
  
She loves watching him, looking him in the eyes, gently caressing her fingers on his skin.   
As her hand touches his sore burnt parts he flinches and pulls away from her touch.   
  
"Ouch!" she laughs kissing him again, gently running her fingertips on the reddening skin, the back of his neck is burnt as much as his shoulders.  
He's leaned tight against her, his groin throbbing again, the excitement from touching her too much. She can feel how hard he is, as it prods at her from beneath his shorts.   
  
There's a longing inside her, she just wants to wrap her arms around him, have him encase her in his body again. But now she holds him back. "We better stop!"  
She coughs to divert this attention, noticing someone over his shoulder walking past.

They part bodies, and stand away from each other, though he still keeps looking at her with lustful longing, unable to get enough of her.   
It's awkward now, they're both unsure what to do, how to act around each other. They both know what they want, but it can't happen. Not here, not right now.   
  
"I need a shower!" she smiles as she feels the icky mess on her body, a sweaty mix of him and sunscreen.   
She's still apprehensively looking around. What they're doing is dangerous, even when they're being discreet, but this now, in the open, she knows that it's just plain stupid.

"Guess I need another one too!" he smiles looking around before he touches her cheek, he can't resist to kiss her again.   
They're absorbed in each other, locking eyes, their fingers entwined in each other's. All they can see right now is what they want, and it's about to cost them as they fail to notice Miller leaving the stores and heading in their direction.  
  
He stops where he is, lets out a forced cough, which draws their attention to the fact that he's seen them. "Shit, it's Miller!" Ellis frowns, annoyed by their stupidity.  
  
"Hey Miller, what's up?" She decides to acknowledge him because trying to pretend he didn't see what he has is not going to wash, especially as he makes it clear from the look on his face, he's seen more than they realised.

"Hey Ellis!" he smiles, smirking broadly. She knows him well enough to know he'll be loving the fact he has some new gossip now "You busy!"  
He continues to stand watching them, just staring with this stupid full grin on his lips.

She nods, so annoyed, knowing it could have been so much worse. Someone worse to have seen them.  
Miller she can handle, but it's just annoying because she's going to have to concede to his new found knowledge. Knowing he'll find some way, some want in the future, to use what he knows to his advantage.

"Yeah, are you?" she frowns

"Yeah! ...Yeah I am really busy, so.... I guess I better get on. I'll err mm... speak with you later!"   
He smiles again, and winks at Jason.   
Jason frowns, as much as the smirking smile was annoying the wink is way worse.

Jason frowns again, looking at the serious face Ellis is pulling "We good?" he nods towards Miller. It's put him right on edge and holds him back from touching her again.

She nods "Yeah .. don't worry!" she sighs putting her hand to his cheek, turning his chin back to face her. Dropping a gentle kiss on his lips "I'll get Wes to have a word. It will be okay! Miller won't say anything. He'll want something..." she laughs "...but he won't say anything!"  
  
She smiles again"Anyway, I know too many things about _him_, what he does, for him to tell too many tales." She stares at him "Jason, don't worry!"  
  
Jason takes a breath, now hesitant to kiss her back, but her does, unable to resist when she puts her soft mouth to his.  
She can still tell he's hesitating though "Jason, trust me!" she can feel his apprehension   
"Look, I better get this shower!" She sighs "Did you say you're getting an inspection or something?"

"Yeah!" he takes a breath "Yeah, Sharpe's threatening an inspection at some point. God knows why! Ray thinks it's a control thing, he says jump, we say how high!"

She frowns "Sounds about right! Look, I'll get this shower then meet you over at mine! Shall I bring some food back, I don't know about you but I'm hungry now!"

He smiles "I think..." he puts his hands on her waist and kisses her neck, forgetting about the worry of being seen".. that sounds like a good idea. Anyway, I need to go check on Clay, get cleaned up, see what's going on with the team. Then I'll go back to yours. What about Mandy?."

She smiles "No it's okay, she's got things to do, she won't be back till much later. Let me know about Clay... any problems and I'll see if there's anything I can do!"

"No! No, I don't want you involved!" he brushes her hair back "You need to stay out of it!"   
He looks around again "I'll see you in a bit!" He risks it all now, gambling everything, because he just _has _to kiss her, and he does.   
  
It's so passionate and he can't stop not until she pushes him back. She smiles, holding him there, at arm's length, stopping him from being so intense. He sighs "Ellis.. I want to tell you something I...I think I..."

"Shhhh! Jason, no! No, don't say anything!" she puts her finger to his lips and smiles "Don't spoil it!"  
  
Something in her chest hurts, as her emotions swell and she has to keep reminding herself he'll be gone in a couple of weeks. That this is just fantasy. That all this is, all these feelings are not for real and soon, despite what Sharpe says about ending it now, that they will be over for good.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She sighs as she stands under the cooling shower water. Thinking about their afternoon, rubbing the soap suds over her greasy body to clean it.   
  
Her phone bleeps. She left it lying on top of her clothes on the chair while she showers. She leans over and looks to see who it is. She can see two messages from Ryan. The same as the earlier ones he sent _Where are you?  
_ but now there's a new message from _Jason: I'm missing you already! X_

It makes her smile and she looks around. _No one here!_   
She turns the water off and dries her hands before picking up her phone. Then she video calls him back, smiling as his face appears on the screen.

"Hey!" he smiles "Where are you?" he's drying his hair and looking at the red sunburn on his shoulders.

"I err mm... "she laughs " I'm having a shower!" She smiles, looking around checking no one is nearby.

"Really?" he frowns, he also checks he's alone, sitting down on the small wooden bench, a small clean towel wrapped round his body. "You know, I've got some serious sunburn issues on my shoulders thanks to you!"

She laughs "Sorry, but I'm not taking the blame for that! You should have put sunscreen on!"

He laughs "So, you having a shower, like _right_ now?"

"mmm hmmm... _Right now_!" she smiles "You wanna see?"

"Hell yeah!" He bites his lip looking at the screen as she moves her phone camera over parts of her naked body.   
  
He sighs, a huge bulge growing under the small towel he has covering his lap, until he looks up and sees Eric coming towards him.   
He tries to adjust himself, make his hard on go down "Look, I gotta go! Speak to you soon. Oh, and Ellis, any thoughts you have right now... hold on to them!"

"I will !" She smiles and switches her phone off.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She's happy, content and so relaxed as she walks back with their food.   
She can't stop smiling thinking about the afternoon, that despite everything going on, she's found some comfort, some happiness among the gloom. The closer back to her bunk she gets, the more something stirs in her panties, thinking about what she wants to do to with Jason for the rest of the evening.

"Ellis!"  
  
She closes her eyes and stops in her tracks hearing her name called. Taking a moment, she lets out a big sigh, making a forced and conscious effort to turn around. Before addressing the source of the call "Ryan!" 

"I've been looking for you, where have you been?"

"What do you want Ryan? I haven't got time for more of your bullshit, I'm busy!"

He smiles " I err.... I wanted to apologise, about earlier, but I did warn you what would happen!" He sighs as he looks at her "I wanted to you to see what could happen, if you carry on doing things that make me unhappy. I ..." he puts his hand on her face "...I thought perhaps we could talk?"

"Ryan, this needs to stop!" she swallows the hard lump in her throat, pushing his hand away. She's mad with him for the intrusion into her pleasant afternoon. Mad that he won't leave her alone.  
"You can't keep following me around, doing this, acting the way, you are. I told you, me and you, it's not happening" she sighs watching him looking at her "Ryan please, you need to accept that it's over!"

He smiles unconvinced by her words "I love the fact you're still playing hard to get. This game, using Hayes, trying to make me jealous!" He smiles his hand on her cheek "I have to admit... it's worked! Now can we just put an end to it and get back to where we were!"   
He watches the confused frown on her face "What..... you want me to spell it out!" His own frown deepens. He looks around, slightly embarrassed. She's got him to a point of annoyance but if this is how she wants it, then he'll do it   
"Okay alright, here it is.... I'm jealous! There I said it, are you happy now?"

She frowns at him shaking her head, she sighs a scoffed laugh "What the hell?"

He's even more annoyed by her mocking him. He said what he thought she wanted to hear, and she's thrown it back at him   
"Ellie did you hear me? I said it's worked. You won, I'm jealous! But it needs to stop now, I won't put up with these games forever!"

She shakes her head annoyed by him, he can tell, and he bites on his lip while he watches her.   
She's not conceding to him like he hoped "Did you know I've got boy wonder, on lock down now!"

She frowns, letting out a deep long sigh, she's really annoyed with his attitude. That she can't get through to him, that no matter what, he still keeps trying to seduce her.   
Granted she'll admit, in the past this would have worked, but now .. now she has Jason and she doesn't want to spoil that!   
"Boy wonder?" she frowns for a moment "You mean Clay? Why, what's going on?"

"You tell me, you're the one been telling him things!" He stops talking, just staring at her, watching her think things over as he brushes the lose strand of her hair from her face   
"I can't have him brawling, not in public, and not with Damien! I can't have what happened being dragged up again! And it won't help anyone!"

"Yeah, I know...." She sighs, nodding in agreement "That's not what I want either!" She pauses, her expression drops, everything turning over, playing things around in her head.

"I know he hurt you Ellis, but we did what we did at the time! We did it to protect everyone. You know it was the right thing!"

"Yeah! Yeah, I know!" She sighs " I just want it all to go away, like it never happened! Wes should have never told him."   
She frowns "Look, I'll speak to him, to Clay. I'll get him to stop and leave it alone!" she takes a deep breath "What are you planning to do to him, Clay I mean?"

He takes a deep breath, filling his chest, puffing it out as he continues to touch her face "Oh, I don't know I haven't decided yet. Maybe start with taking their privileges away, punish the whole team...let him feel the consequences of his actions."   
He laughs "There's something about that boy I just don't like, so full of his own cockiness! Maybe I'll confine them all to quarters? That would certainly solve the problem with the Master Chief!"

"Ryan, you can't do that!" she frowns " Jesus! Not out here.. it's not fair, they'll go stir crazy!"

"And that bothers you, why?"

She's not going to tell him that it does. But she knows it will limit her access to Jason, that if they're confined it will make seeing him much harder "Ryan why are you doing this?" she questions his motives

He looks at her and smiles "Because I can! Because, I'm the one in control, and they need reminding! Because men like Spenser and Hayes... Damien, they need putting in their place sometimes. They're very good at what they do, the best, but they need to remember they are just a cog in the machine. And.. and also, because I enjoy it!"   
  
he laughs still watching her, still stroking her hair away from her face. "Get the hell off me! " she pushes his hand away "So who keeps _you_ in control? Stops you getting carried away!"

"No one!" he laughs "That's the beauty of what I worked for. I've been where they are ...and now..." He smiles. "..now I get to say what happens!"  
  
She looks at him so arrogant and smug standing there. Yes, he looks good, he smells and sounds so damn good, but that look of enjoyment that it's a game to him, it really annoys her. "Whatever did I see in you?" she shakes her head.   
She's disappointed in him, in herself. And she lets out a long sigh relieving her frustration. "This is wrong, Ryan, all of it!"

He laughs "Oh _I'm _wrong? What about you Ellis? The games you play, the _fun_ you have. Is that not all wrong?" he frowns "What about you carrying on with... with _him!_ Is that not wrong?... You know, you're lucky to still be here, keep your job!"   
He's so annoyed with her now, angry that she's trying to lecture him "Oh come on Ellis, wake up!" he laughs " Half this fucking base know what you two are doing! Your secret? Don't make me laugh! If it wasn't for me, neither of you would still be here!"   
  
She sighs. She doesn't want to admit it but he's probably right and she bites her lip unable to answer him. Knowing he _is _right as he laughs, is annoying "Anyway, don't you dare go all moral on me, you loved it once, loved using that control, the power you had!"

She shakes her head "I don't know what you're talking about! I didn't love anything about it."   
  
"Oh Ellis! Admit it, when those other women, what they said, what they did, looked at you the way they did. You didn't care, why was that? Because you knew ...you knew, what you were doing gave you power,iIt made you untouchable! Because I could protect you, and you loved it, it gave you a thrill!"

She shakes her head, but his words hurt because somewhere inside she knows there is some truth, it did make her feel powerful. Knowing she was seeing one of the most powerful influences on this base. Yeah she had to admit in the deep dark pit of her insides she did like it   
"No! It was never about that! I ... I ..."she looks down his comments sting. The truth stings.  
  


He laughs "Look at you, denying it! That's why you chose him isn't it, out of all them to have fun with you chose him, because even he makes you feel powerful. But he'll never make you feel the way I did, will he!"

"Leave me alone Ryan! This.. us... it's done!" She starts to walk away

"Deny it all you like Ellie! .....You know I'm right!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Fuck!" She stops leaning against the wall of the stores.

"You alright?" Wes frowns. He's now stood beside her. He was outside having a cigarette when he heard the shouting. He saw Ryan speaking to her "What did he say to you?"

"Nothing! .. I'm fine, it's nothing!" she looks at Wes, his face says he doesn't believe her "Oh, you know what he's like .. just has to.. huhhh!" she sighs "Oh don't worry!"

"Ellis what's going on?"

She sighs again, taking the cigarette from him and smoking it. Letting out a long breath, enjoying it. She doesn't smoke many but when she does she enjoys it. 

She closes her eyes. "Oh shit, it's a mess!" she rubs her head and looks at him "He knows!....He knows about Jason!" She rubs her forehead some more "Fuck!... What am I gonna do Wes?"

"Shit! So, what's he said? And more to the point, what's he planning on doing?"  
She shrugs and sighs, ignoring him as he frowns worried "What does he want Ellis? He always wants something."

She sighs swallowing hard, smoking the cigarette, before she hands it back to him. "What do you think he wants!" she puts her head in her hands "He wants me back!" She laughs   
"Oh god! All those times, when that's all I wanted, and he went back to Melissa! The son of bitch does this now!"

"Ellis, please...don't tell me...you're thinking about this?" he frowns at her "Ellis?! "

"No! No!!." she shakes her head "No, I'm not! I can't...it ... " her head is a mess of confusion "Shit!"

Wes can see how torn she is, as he takes hold of her, holding her to his chest. He's as much worried as he is angry " Oh Ellis, how did you get in this fucking mess!"  
  


She pushes him back, rubbing her head pulling herself together "I need to get back ... Jason's waiting .. I err mmm .." she shrugs unsure what more to say.

Wes nods "Just go! I'll catch up with you later. We'll sort this! But Ellis please, don't do anything stupid!"

"Me?..Do anything stupid!?" she rolls her eyes and laughs as she walks away

Wes finishes his cigarette and throws it down, taking a big sigh in. His temper is pumped   
  
"Miller!!!" he shouts in the door of the stores "I won't be gone long. I got something I need to sort out!"


	32. It's a game

"Hey!!!..... Asshole!!!"

Ryan stops walking and turns around, frowning at Wes as he strides towards him calling out. "Yeah you, I'm talking to you, asshole!"  
  
The Group Captain stands solid, arms folded glaring at Wes, a deep thoughtful scowl set in on his forehead "Careful Wes, I think you should remember who you're talking to!"   
  


Wes nods "Oh, I know who I'm talking to!" he swings a punch, hitting Ryan clean on the jaw knocking him sideways "Stay the hell away from Ellis!"

Rubbing his jaw Ryan turns back, grabbing Wes by the scruff of his shirt. Both men being the same height and build, means Wes is not intimidated by him.   
  
Ryan continues to rub his face, holding his pride dented temper inside "You know I could have you out of here, just like that!" he clicks his fingers

"Yeah, you could!" Wes smirks a smile as he stands toe to toe, eye to eye, staring him out "But you won't!" 

"I won't?" he frowns, his dark brown eyes glaring, trying to threaten Wes "Oh, you're sure of that are you?"  
  
He laughs in Ryan's face, goading him, pushing the limits of the officer's control as they continue their face off, neither of them flinching. "Do it then, go on.. I dare ya!"  
  
Wes gives him a look of contempt, he's livid. His fury for the officer building as they continue to stare at each other  
"You know I'd love ya to just give me one shot, one time when you don't hide behind your rank, me and you, man to man so I can show you what I think of you!"

Ryan just laughs "Be careful what you wish for, Wes! Don't underestimate me, because I would love to put you in your place!"

"You won't though will you? You won't do anything , because what would Ellis say? Hmmm."  
He continues to smirk "You do something to me, and you won't ever get back in her panties! We both know that, she'd never forgive you"

"Now who's hiding?" Ryan is so close, so tempted so annoyed at being called out "Don't get clever Wes, you know it doesn't suit you!" he takes a deep breath, stepping back trying, despite the provocation, to calm himself   
"You know I don't like you; I never have, and I've never understood the weird _relationship_ that goes on with you and her. I mean, some would wonder if you're jealous Wes, jealous of the men she has, or perhaps you're just jealous of me, that she wants me, not you?"

Wes laugh "_Me_, jealous....of you! No, no see I can have Ellis anytime I want, what we've got can't be broken by you! Her problem is she needs protecting from you because she's too stupid to see what you do to her!"   
Wes shakes his head, he's so annoyed. Sharpe has a mannerism that gets to Wes every time they come into contact "She might have fallen for all _this _.." he points at his uniform, looking Ryan up and down "before, but you're crazy if you think she'll come back to you now!"  
  
He keeps smiling as Ryan's face drops, he's really annoyed by Wes now "No, she's moved on from you now, Jason 's on the scene now" he laughs "and there's nothing you can do to change it!"  
He brushes Ryan's shirt down "Not that she'll admit, but she's fallen for him, so if I were you I'd be asking where it leaves me? hmmm ... probably in a hole where you belong!"  
  
Wes smirks again he's trying to push Ryan to lose control and he doesn't like the feeling that Wes is getting the better of him.   
He grips his fingers making a fist, he's so tempted to punch Wes, but he doesn't, he holds his control and now he smiles "Oh come on Wes, we both know she'll come back to me, she always does! She has her little bit of fun, then she comes back, that's the way it works. You know it, I know it and Ellis knows it. She'll come back to me, begging for it!" 

Wes hates him, watching him laughing, loving himself so much. The feeling in the pit of his stomach that Ryan induces. But whilst he wishes it wasn't true, hoping so much that this time she'll break free, he knows he's probably right that when Jason leaves she'll go back to him  
"You son of a bitch, look at you, so sure of yourself! God knows what she even sees in you!"   
  
He looks Sharpe directly in eyes, starring at him hard "But I'm telling you, you've blown it this time. You controlled her for that long but you can't see you've lost her"   
Wes sighs "Do you know how heartbroken she was when you went back to your wife, when you cut her out? No, no she's not coming back to you, I'll make sure of it!"

"That was a mistake on my part but it was something I had to do, I had to maintain some order. Getting caught with Ellis wasn't an option, at that time, but...now Melissa has gone and.." he sighs "...well, we'll see!"   
He smiles, more a smirk, laughing at Wes "You know, I saw her earlier....it's still there, I can see it in her eyes, she'll be back!"

Wes struggles to hold his temper, watching the smarmy look on his face "Not if I can help it!" he sighs biding his time warning himself not to push it too far "Well, can't stand here with you. Some of us have work to do!"

"Tread carefully Wes, you might not always have her to protect you, and when you don't.... I'll be waiting!"

Wes nods and smiles "I'll bear that in mind, S_ir!_" His tone sarcastic as he salutes and walks away.  
  


Sharpe's temper is fuming now, he takes a breath and taking his cell from his pocket he calls Ellis.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Hey!" she smiles, Jason's laid on her bed, he's wearing only his shorts and he looks like he's nearly asleep "You okay?"

"Yeah sure! Why?"

"I brought you some pasta and salad, didn't know what else to get, you want some?" she frowns watching him stretch and yawn "You look tired, are you alright?"   
She smiles, watching him with his shirt off, his chest toned and bronzed. It makes something stir inside her, as she keeps her eyes on him, unable to stop looking,   
She's longing,wanting, lusting for him she needs him.  
"I'm so hungry!" she takes the fork and starts stuffing her mouth with the food, trying to distract herself from her thoughts "Do you want some, before I eat it all?"  
  
"Must be all those calories you burned earlier!" he smiles as he watches her, she looks beautiful and he can't get enough looking at her "Come here!"

She puts the fork and the food box down, before she sits on the bed beside him.  
  
"I said come here!" Beckoning he towards him, he wipes the mayo from the corner of her mouth before putting his lips to hers. Kissing her so passionately, pulling her head to his.   
  
Her hands are feeling his face, her fingers in his hair, wrapping her arm around his neck as they kiss softly, touching and caressing each other. It's not about sex, now they're absorbed in each other. His hands running over her shoulders before he pulls her T shirt up over her head.  
  
She's not wearing a bra underneath and he loves the feel of her skin on his hands, caressing her back pulling her, holding her against him as they continue to kiss.   
She straddles her legs over his waist, holding is face, kissing him more deeply, their lips in unison. The movement of her tongue touching his, the sensation pulses down her but she doesn't want more she just want to continue with this intimate kissing, Running her hands on his muscular arms, the feel of them makes her tingle, the strength and power of them holding her turns her on.   
  
She smiles, sitting back, putting her hand gently on his shoulder, frowning as she touches the red colored skin "You're so burnt!" His skin is so red and sore, and if he was honest it does hurt "Let me get you some cream!"   
  
She climbs off the bed, her phone falling from her shorts pocket on top of the covers, he picks it up while she searches through the bottles of products she has on the shelf.

"Here it is, I knew I had some, put this on!" She turns around to see Jason frowning, a deep-set look as he stares at her "Something wrong?"

He holds up her phone facing the screen towards her "R. S. Who's that?"

"I don't know" shaking her head, she shrugs "No one!" She lies, and he can tell by the mild panicked look on her face.   
  
"Well they're in your contacts, five missed calls and text .... surely, you must know who?"  
As he holds it, it vibrates with a call again. Her heart beats faster, awkward and unsure what to say as Jason turns the phone towards her, R.S showing on the screen again "Do you need to answer this?"

"It's just ..err mm someone... from ummm.... ammo stores, probably calling me back about a message I left. He can wait!"  
She feels her cheeks flush, unsure why she feels the necessity to lie to him. She knows this is only making it worse and she tries to change the subject. "You want some of this pasta?"  
  
He sits up staring at her "Aren't you going to answer it?"   
  
His tone is demanding, and she doesn't like it "No!" she frowns taking the phone from him "No!" she cuts it off "It's not important, it'll wait.. it's nothing!"  
She runs her hand through her hair. She's stressed now and goes back to eating the salad "You want some of this?"

"No, no I don't want anything, I just want you to tell me who's on the damn phone!"

She's confused what to do now, and though she knows there's nothing in it, it will sound so bad if she tells him "I told you, don't worry!" she kneels beside him on the bed "Jason, don't worry about it, its nothing!" She puts her hand to the side of his head, kissing him.

He pulls her hands off his face, holding them together and stares at her "Who is it?"

She takes a deep breath and averts her gaze from him before sitting back on her heels. "It's Ryan!" she sighs "Sharpe!" she can feel herself blush in embarrassment.

"What the hell does he want?"

"I don't know!" she shrugs "Jason, I don't want to speak to him. Just forget about it, it's nothing!"  
  
She takes the phone and throws it on the table, away from view before leaning forward to kiss him, searching his eyes but now something has changed and he pulls away, acting distant even though her lips keep trying to tempt him.

He looks at her, watching thinking and churning things over in his mind "Is Damien right?"

"Damien?!" She frowns looking at him confused "What the hell's he gotta do with anything?"  
  
"I heard him tell Clay .. that you were playing games, to make Sharpe jealous. Was he right, is _this_ a game?"

She sits back offended "No!" she frowns "Jason!! Please" she sighs running her hand through her hair   
"Shit is that what you think?" she leans forward kissing his lips staring at him "No! No, of course not, why would I do that? I told you before, its over!"

He nods towards her phone "Doesn't seem very over!"

"Well it is!" she snaps back at him and stands up, feeling conscious now, she picks up her T-shirt, putting it on to cover, her naked body.   
She picks up her food and has another fork full but then can't eat it, closing the lid throwing it down on the table.  
She has a really nervous feeling in her stomach now and he's just sitting staring like he's waiting for some answer that she can't give. "What?!" she frowns "What do you want me to say?"

Jason's biding his time, still working through things in his mind. The things he heard earlier when Damien and Clay had their altercation, the things he'd dismissed and put them to the back of his mind, but now they come flooding to the fore.   
Feeling strangely pissed at her, annoyed by the phone, he's trying to decide if it's time to confront this situation "You know I could do with a drink, you wanna get out of here!"  
  
She laughs and shrugs her shoulders "I though your privileges got shut down!" she frowns realising as soon as the words are out of her mouth, why she shouldn't have said it.

"What're you talking about?"

"Nothing. I just... sorry my mistake!"

"No why would you say that, who told you that?" Jason stares at her hard, frowning deep confused lines.

She sighs "Sharpe did ..." she rubs her head in regret ".. he told me he's going to restrict BRAVOs privileges, punishment for Clay fighting!"

"He told you, when?"

"Does it matter?" she sighs again, it obviously does she can tell by the look on his face "Oh, I saw him earlier .. he.. he's, just trying to be in control. Just ignore him Jason!"

"Why did he tell you?" Jason frowns

"Just because... he was trying to get to me, wanted to show he's in control, like what he did early. It's a game Jason, ignore him. He wants to get under your skin!"

"What's going on Ellis?"

She pauses, thinking, biting her lip " Nothing!"  
She smiles at him she can see a change in the way he's looking at her "There's nothing going on, honest!"   
He's making himself angry as he keeps staring at her. He doesn't speak while he thinks.   
  
She sighs again "Alright, he err mmm.... "she takes a deep breath "Oh god!" she rubs her head; it aches and she's struggling about what to say, "He err mmm... he knows about us!"

"He knows about _us, _about this?" he frowns "What the hell!"   
He sighs, thinking about the conversation he had with him earlier "I knew it!" he laughs "he gave me a veiled warning earlier!" he stares at her, his temper rising "So be honest, you and him is it still going on?"

"No!" she frowns, angry that he's asking her "No!! Jason, why the hell would you ask me that? I told you it's done, it's over!" She gets up off the bed. She's furious inside and she takes her a moment, standing with her back to him pulling her hand through her hair

"And what about Damien, you have something with him?"

Her heart sinks and she closes her eyes. Laughing to herself "Damien?" she frowns wondering why he's asking that now " No, why?"

"Don't lie Ellis!" he stares at her hard looking for an answer "Was he the other one?....The one on your list, the one that you said _didn't matter_?"

  
She keeps her back to him, again nervously running her hand through her hair. She feels sick, quiet, thinking what to answer him.   
She turns around and nods staring at him the look on his face she must admit it disappoints her and she smiles at him, so hurt, so angry "Why are you doing this?" she shakes her head and sighs.   
"Yeah, yeah there was something" she wipes tear off her cheek. She's not upset about telling him the tears are for the way she can see him looking at her, the tone in his voice, the disappointment she now feels   
"It was a while back, he err mmm ...he was here on deployment" She shrugs not really wanting to explain but she can tell from the way he asked he won't leave it now "I don't know what you want me to say. It ended badly, and he left, end of story. It meant nothing!"  
  
She sighs again "Oh Jesus Jason!" she wants to cry "I don't question you about the barflies you've had Virginia Beach or some ...some girl you don't know here name when you're deployed do I? "   
She stares at him, taking a deep breath composing herself "No I don't, but we both know thats what you do!"   
She laughs"Do you know how long I've been here? Too long, and yes ... I've fucked some guys while I was here, so what!"

"So, what?!" he frowns "But Sharpe's not just _some guy _is he!"  
They stare at each other both so angry, both hurt by each other "So, am I like Damien then, something to get Sharpe jealous, keep his attention? That this meant nothing!"

She turns away from him, hurt by what he says "NO!...No!!!" She wipes the tears that drip down her cheeks "It wasn't like that, not with you!"

"So, what was it? Just a bit of fun?"

She takes a deep breath, a pain in her chest, an ache in her heart, his words hurt   
"Yeah!" she nods.   
Her tone turns nasty, angry at him "Yeah that's it, this, it's all just some fun where no one gets hurt. We fuck and you leave! You're right, it means nothing!"   
She holds her tears back and turns around looking him dead in the eyes "What did you want it to be, Jason?"   
She pauses, making herself laugh "Come on, get real, it's a fun fling, something to pass the time, nothing more, right!"   
She sniffs, taking a deep breath and composing herself "I mean you're going to be gone soon anyway, what am I supposed to say! It's not like... " she looks away from him there's a large glass tear drops off her chin

"You're supposed to say that it's more than that...more than just some game!"

She stops talking, his words take her by surprise, him saying that, especially after the accusatory tone he's been using to address her. It shocks her and she laughs "Oh come on, we both know this is going nowhere! Like I said, you leave in a few weeks then what? You're gonna email me , video message, what? I'm stuck here and you're....you're god knows where, what am I supposed to do about that?!"

"What happens when I go... hmmm, you go back to Sharpe, get your kicks from him, again?"   
He stares at her. It's hard to know whose more angry right now "Maybe ....maybe you could make another video!"  
He stops talking and goes silent as he watches her, he wishes he wasn't angry, wishes he hadn't said that.

"Video?" she frowns "What video, are you talking about?"

He sighs "The one of you, then one Alpha team are passing around!"

Her face drops the way he says it, it's so nasty and spiteful. She takes a breath running her hand in her hair "He showed you that?" she tentatively asks, swallowing her pride back.

"No! No I heard them tell Clay! They said ummm.. they thought it was you and Sharpe, is that true?"

_Wow!_ She takes a breath, it's stunned her "I...I didn't know anything about that video, you have to believe me... I don't know where the hell that came from, but Damien said he wouldn't show anyone"   
She wipes the back of her hand on her face it's wet from angry tears. All she wants to do right now is cry but she also wishes he would hold her, tell her its fine and that everything will be alright between them, but it won't, and she closes her eyes in embarrassed horror, realising Damien never stuck to his word.

"He, uhm....Damien, he used it to blackmail Sharpe so .. so, he didn't lose his job!" She sighs   
_Oh shit_ she's so angry and hurt, betrayed by them all.

Jason scoffs "So, what did he need to blackmail Sharpe for? What did he do that he needed it?"

"I don't know .." she shrugs, passing it off. Her head is debating whether to tell him or not   
"I'm guessing, Ryan found out about me Damien and, err mm....it all just got out of hand. Things happened, Damien used the leverage. Sharpe packed them on a flight, and he left, and I never saw him again until they showed up a couple weeks ago!"

"But you never thought to warn me that you slept with him.. I mean for god sake we've been drinking together, talking ..."

She laughs awkwardly "Talking about me?"

"Well why not!" He sighs his head annoyed with himself _Why the hell did you say that to her!_   
He was angry. Angry with her, with the situation, with himself!

"You know, you're all the same!" She's also angry, hurt that he thinks so little of her, lashing out at her "You know I liked you Jason, I mean _really_ liked you"   
She starts to cry , unable to hold it inside "I thought you were different but, I guess not!" she wipes the tears off her face "I need you to go now, I wanna be on my own!"

He sits up, though he's angry with the situation and he's hurt, but he likes her so much, he wants to hold her again, say he's sorry. He touches her arm "Ellis....I'm..."

She pulls away "Get the hell off me! You know what.... I think it's best if we end this, now! I mean you're leaving in couple of weeks anyway and err mm ....this is just complicating the work we have to do." She swallows back the knotted emotion in her throat "It was fun, but I think it's over!"

  
He pulls his T-shirt on, staring at her, but she keeps her back to him so he can't see the tears running down her face   
"Fine! If that's what you want then it's fine by me!" he stands up pulling his T shirt down "You're right ....this wasn't going anywhere, but it passed the time!"

She closes her eyes that cuts her so deep, it hurts so much "Just go!"   
  


The door slams shut with Bang!

All the emotion she held in, that she didn't want to let him see comes spilling and crashing out. It causes the painful knot in her stomach, as she tries so hard to hold back her sobs.   
  
She can't, and she drops to her bed, holding and sniffing into the pillow where he just lay.   
She thinks her heart might burst from the pain, as she grips that soft bed cushion. "Oh god!!! ...FUCK!!!!" she screams then she curls herself up. She so desperately wants to run after him, go tell him, but she can't. She can't and she won't because she knows this is probably for the best for both of them.   
Her emotions are running wild having spun from euphoria of the high, excitement for their sun-drenched afternoon sex, to her now deep despair.

She looks up as he phone buzzes again wiping her face she looks at the new message   
Shit! I need to get dressed.  


**o-o-o-o-o-o**

He stands outside, grinding his teeth, there's an ache inside him, a pain he hasn't felt for a long time. Now he's wondering if he should go back, say he's sorry. He wants her so badly and he regrets his anger. Regrets that it's come to this, that it's over.  
  
Wiping his face he's thinking about getting a drink, getting lots of drinks and falling down drunk and forgetting it all. His phone buzzes. Then he looks at the message _Shit!_  
He frowns, they're being called to an urgent briefing _What the hell!_

Ellis, their argument, how he feels about her, this whole turmoil, he'll have to put it on hold while he gets on with his work. Something he admits he should have done in the first place.


	33. Let's get this job done!

Ellis finishes getting dressed, pulling her tight vest top over her curves, making a point to leave a few extra buttons open on her camouflage shirt, deliberately exposing more of her cleavage than is probably necessary.   
She smiles as she looks at herself in the mirror letting out a long sigh. _You can all go to hell! _   
  
Then she opens the door and heads from her bunk, confidently marching across the sand on her way back to the briefing room.

She's taken way too long getting ready, it seems ages since they pinged her phone, just after she argued with Jason, but right at this moment, she really couldn't care.   
  
It's getting late in the evening and she enjoys the cooler air as she walks, she's still unhurried, slow, controlled, thinking things over.   
She decides she'll front it out, put on her best most confident facade and confront the nerves she has, the fears of facing them all in that briefing.   
If she's honest it's the thought of facing Jason, after what he said, that's making her the most anxious.

She smiles to herself, acknowledging the heads that turn to look at her, some accompanied by "Looking good Ellis!" 

It makes her feel good, makes her put more purpose in her walk, even if on the inside she's having to fight the anxiety, fight to stay calm and do what she can to project a _doesn't care_ attitude to the outside world.

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

As she enters the corridor to the offices she takes another, deeper, breath. Giving herself a pep talk about keeping her emotions in check. _Don't let them get to you!_  
  
Then she makes the final steps towards the briefing room. Just feet from the door she stops. Straightening up, taking a deep breath as she puts her hand on the door to open it.

"_ELLIS!_"

She freezes at the sound of her name being called. She doesn't move,her hand poised on the door handle. _What the hell does he want now? _  
Closing her eyes, holding her breath she tries desperately to not lose her confident attitude as she turns around to look at him.  
  
"Ellis, I need to speak to you!" He calls her again from the doorway, of his temporary office.  
  
"I don't have time for this, Ryan!" she sighs as she looks at him "I have a briefing to attend."

"I know you do." He pauses for a moment while he watches her "I was the one who called it. But I need a word with _you_ first!"   
  
He indicates with a hand gesture for her to enter his office. She bites her lip hesitating, letting out a long sigh as she turns from the door in front of her and heads back.   
Reluctantly she pushes past him, forcing her body to brush against his in the tight space as he refuses to move his position from the doorway.   
  
The feel of his body against hers gives her tingles she can't explain and she berates herself. Angry for noticing how good he looks and the clean, classy, sexy, smell of his aftershave which lingers in her nostrils. She never could resist that smell. It was a perfect smell. It smelled of him and whenever she caught the scent it took her back to their times together. Fun times, sexy times and if she was honest, loving times.   
  
_Just don't think about it!_ She repeats over and over in her head. Still angry for even entertaining these thoughts about him.  
She lets out a loud sigh as she stands in front of his desk, trying to look relaxed and purposefully giving him a look of disinterest.  
  
"Ellis, can I remind you this is a work situation. I mean..." he points towards her slouched stance ".. is this really how you present to a senior officer?"

She takes another deep breath to cover how awkward she feels " Sorry _Sir!_" She straightens up, standing to attention "I thought this was .." She sighs. In truth she has no idea what this is "You're right this is work. My apology!"

He nods accepting it as he pushes a beige folder in front of her. She frowns looking from the folder to him "What's this?"

He pauses as he looks at her, his eyes looking her up and down. "It's intel, I'm about to brief the teams on" He can feel his heart beating faster and also a stir in his pants, the mere thoughts of being this close to her give him chills of excitement. She just looks so good, and he can't help but eye fuck her while she stands there.   
  
She looks down, ignoring his stare, keeping her focus on the brown card covered file. She knows exactly what he's thinking, she can read him so well. She knows his eyes are wandering over the curves of her body and as much as she wishes it didn't, it makes her feel good.  
  
He finally refocuses his attention "Alpha and Bravo will be deployed in a few hours!"

Now she looks up, her eyes meeting his, but she's still confused "Ryan, what's going on?"  
  
"I wanted you to see this, before..." he pauses "..before you head in there. It gives you a chance to prepare yourself!"

Her breathing falters and her chest tightens "Prepare myself? Prepare myself for what?"

"Ellis, just look at the file!"

She doesn't move, her fingers gently touching the cover of the paperwork. Closing her eyes as she flicks it open. But still she doesn't look at it's contents.   
Swallowing the large knot in her throat, her mind is racing, hands shaking as it holds the edge of the folder she opens it, still keeping her eyes looking straight ahead, staring at him, unable to bring herself to look at the desk. Her mind imaging the unimaginable "Ryan, what is this?"

He can see her apprehension, he knows she can already guess "Photographs. Captured by the drone we sent up!" he pauses watching her

"Photographs of what?" she frowns, still unable to look at the desk. She doesn't take her eyes off him.  
  
"Ellis!" he reluctantly continues "Just look at the file!"   
  
She lets out a breath as she finally drops her eyes down, looking at grainy, slightly out of focus, black and white pictures laid in front of her.   
  
It takes a moment for her to digest the contents, then she gasps, _Oh hell!_   
  
The images of two bodies confronts her._ Oh no! Please no! _She holds her breath; her chest is tight, she feels like her own body might suffocate her as she shuffles the glossy pieces of paper.   
  
Swallowing again as her eyes look up at him as he stands, arms folded, in front her. She's searching for his reassurance, hoping he's going to say this is not what she thinks. "Is -is that......" She pauses again, the lump in her throat making her gag, the bile in her stomach retches forward "Is that _him?_ Is that Lucas?"   
She puts her now shaking hand to her mouth, covering her shocked intake of breath, trying so hard not to breakdown, not be sick and not to cry. _Oh shit! Oh Shit! _Her body fights with itself and she starts to tremble.  
  
He closes his eyes, unable to watch as the tears well in her eyes. This is much harder than he imagined. He thought he could keep himself in check, deliver the news in his normal self controlled manner, but his feelings for her, seeing her hurt, it's making that an almost impossible task  
"We, ummm..." he nods "we think so. Obviously one, we can confirm as Private Thomas"   
Only obvious because he was the only black member that was lost "The other, the other body, well we can't confirm it for sure but.... we think it's Lucas." he sighs giving her a pitiful look "But like I said, we'll only be able to confirm it when the teams get out there."

She nods, running her hand through her hair, her eyes pooling with watery tears.

"Ellis..... " he wants to say something, wants to comfort her but he can't, and so he switches back into his controlled mode, distancing himself emotionally from her.   
"I'm about to brief the teams before they deploy for recovery. I'm showing you these first because, well I wanted to give you time. I didn't want to spring it on you in the briefing."

"I appreciate that Sir." she nods "Can I... can I go now? I need a few minutes, before the briefing!"

"Yes! Of course." he nods trying to keep it on a professional footing, even if that's not what he wants. "You're dismissed!"

She puts her hand on the handle to open the door "Sir..." A tear falls on her cheek , she stares at him and him at her she's so choked up, unable to get her words out.

"Was there something else Private Baxter?" he frowns, watching her hesitate.

"No!" She suddenly changes her mind unable to say what she wanted "No Sir, nothing else!"   
She apprehensively smiles and turn back towards the door then she stops again. "Actually, yeah ..." she breaths "Yeah there was one more thing." She stares at the back of the door, deciding not to turn around this time   
"I just wanted you to know ...the- the _thing_, with Master Chief Hayes" she takes another deep breath. "I mean what I wanted to say was...Jason and me are finished, it's over. I just-just thought you should know. But I also want you to know it's going to be an issue! I mean working together"  
  
He doesn't say anything and so now she does look behind her only to find he's leafing casually through a folder on his desk. She's not sure if he registered what she said and as he looks up, his eyes meeting hers, all he does is shrug "Is that everything, Private Baxter?"

His dismissive tone annoys her, after all the issue he had, wanting her to finish it with Jason and now he dismisses her comment like it's nothing.   
  
"No nothing else, _Sir_!"   
She sniffs, she feels hurt, unsure of what she wanted him to say but knowing she wanted him to say something "I just thought you should know, that's all!"   
  
She opens the door then closing it behind her she stands in the corridor taking a moment to digest what went on "Fuck!"   
she rubs her head and sniffs deeply as tears roll down her cheeks, unsure if they're her grief for Lucas or for the personal hurt from Ryan's dismissive unbothered, reaction.

He closes the folder on his desk and looks up at the closed door, running his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath "Fuck!"   
He's annoyed with himself that he let her go like that, that he didn't say anything, wondering if he was too harsh on her.   
Inside though he's smiling, pleased that she said her and Jason are finished.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She takes a moment in thebathroom, looking at herself in the mirror, this time not so confident, all her good intentions gone, knocked sideways by the news regarding Lucas.   
  
She pulls both hands through her hair, raking it back into a neater ponytail before taking a deep breath and heading back towards the briefing room. As she opens the door and steps out she walks straight into Clay.

"Oh my god, Ellis I'm sorry I didn't see you!"   
His smile turns to a frown as he sees the reddened tearful look on her face. "Hey, you okay?" She nods trying to hold her tears as he continues to frown at her "Ellis, what's happened? What's wrong?"

She gulps the lump in her throat is back, choking her "Oh god Clay... " she clutches at her stomach as she cries "Sorry!" she sobs "It's just... they think, it's umm....." she can't get her breath "They've .. found some more bodies, and they think one is Lucas. That's what this briefing's about!"   
  
The tears flow freely down her cheeks now and Clay frowns "Oh god Ellis, I'm so sorry!"  
  
He pulls his hand round her neck and she leans her head on his shoulder as it all comes flooding out. Lucas, her falling out with Jason and Ryan's dismissive tone, all of it now hits her. Then as she realises where she is, and the job they have to do, she gathers herself.   
  
"Clay umm.... while we're alone there's something I need to ask you" she stares at him "This thing, this issue you have going on with Damien, it umm.... it needs to stop. I need you to leave it alone now!"

Clay sighs looking at her, he laughs "Are you serious? Are you asking me to be nice to him? Because sorry, after what Wes told me, I can't!"

She nods "I'm not asking you to be nice to him. Look, Wes should never have told you any of that but this fighting, with him, it has to stop"  
  
She appeals to him watching the deep frown on his face "I know...I know how you feel I really do Don't you think I feel like that, God I'd love to ..." she smiles "But you have to, you have to try to let it go! This is not your fight"

"Ellis .." he looks around checking who's around then letting out a long sigh, looking her deep in the eyes "Ellis, will you at least consider reporting him? You know you can, even now, it's not too late. Please, please just think about doing that!"

"I can't!" she shakes her head " It's done with. Clay, I just wanna forget about it and there's no reason for you to get in trouble. You have to drop this!"

He sighs "Please, just think seriously about it. That guy is an A one asshole. He needs reporting"

"I know he is!" she smiles "But I can't" she laughs pathetically "I just can't." she takes a deep breath in "Because I did!"   
She wipes her face, calming herself "I did report it and then,and then I withdrew the complaint!"

Clay frowns "What? But why, why would you do that?"

She wipes her face again, drying her eyes "It was complicated, and umm... it wasn't just about me! I had Wes and Lucas to protect." she sighs "Look, Ryan made it go away so..." she smiles at him.  
"Oh come on Clay, I could never have proved it, I mean you guys, special forces, you're untouchables, it would have been my word against his and he had his story straight"   
She sighs "Plus everyone knew I'd been seeing him so...they were all gonna take his word." she shrugs "But you do need to leave it now. If not for you and Bravo then please, for me!"

He stares at her "What do you mean Sharpe made it _go away?_ How?"

"Clay please! I don't wanna get into it, it's done, that's all you need to know!" Her lip quivers and the tears roll on her cheeks again. He can see the hurt inside her, and he pulls her head back to his shoulder, comforting her.   
  
"Okay, alright! If that's what you want, but Ellis, it's not right!"   
  
"I know...I know it's not!"   
  
She cries hard leaning on his shoulder, his arm round her neck "Shhh! Come on, it's gonna be okay!"   
He looks at his watch over her shoulder, knowing they need to be in the briefing room, but as he looks up he sees Sharpe at the end of the corridor watching them "Ellis, come on we need to go!"

Sharpe bites his lip watching them for a few moments "Petty Officer Spenser, is there a problem here?"

Ellis turns around with a start having not seen him "No!" she wipes her face "No, it's fine, I'm fine! Everything's fine!"

He frowns annoyed by Clay's presence "You need to get to briefing. Petty Officer, you are dismissed"

"Come on Clay, just leave it" she pushes him forward "Let's get in there!"

"Ellis!" Sharpe calls her again "Wait!"

  
"Just go Clay!" She closes her eyes and stops where she is "Sir!" she turns around and looks at Sharpe

He steps towards her "Are you alright?" He lifts her chin to look at her.

She swipes his hand away "I'm fine. I just need everyone to leave me alone!" She stares at him for a moment then walks away.  
  
"Ellis..." He calls after her, but she ignores him. He sighs a long breath, then follows behind her to the briefing room.

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

As she enters, Ryan holds the door for her, and whilst everyone stands to salute him, all their eyes are focused on the both of them.

Damien smirks, he's watching the look of disdain on Jason's face and then with a smile he leans in against him and whispers in hushed tone "Looks like they're back on!"   
  
Jason turns, frowning at his comment "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Look at him. I mean he's always been an arse, but now...now he's an arse that's got the cream!"  
  
Damien laughs, he can see his comment has had its effect as Jason's forehead wrinkles tight with annoyance. The more he stares at Ellis for attention the more obvious she makes it that she's ignoring him.

"Sir!" Blackburn stands to attention as Sharpe arrives beside him, before chatting with him and Mandy as she prepares to open the briefing.   
Sharing both her intel and the drone photographs, that Ellis saw earlier, which she now uploads onto the big screen at the front of the room. She continues, describing the area where the bodies are located.  
  
"Set between those two ridges, it's going to make us vulnerable to ambush, but the dark is our friend out there."   
"I agree we need to get this done under the cover of night!"  
  
"So if it gets light before we get there we're gonna have to sit it out which makes us much more vulnerable"

"I say we split teams, set over watch here and here. Clay and Harry?" Jason points to the map and he and Damien discuss their infill tactics, and the execution plan for bringing the bodies back.

"We exfil from here on the helo. Looks, like we're sitting in a valley there so comms might be a problem" Jason looks up at the screen then back at the map

"Gentlemen can I remind you, this area has been a hot bed of activity recently, and the intel suggests this is more than likely be a trap. They know we went out for the last body, their gonna know we're coming for these ones"  
  
Jason and Damien go back to the map whilst Ellis closes her eyes. She's concentrating on keeping herself calm as she continues to stare at the drone footage on the screen. The team leaders are playing it over and over in slow motion during their planning.   
  
Her mind is wondering if it really is Lucas's body. She's been trying so hard to tell from the pictures but it's just not clear enough. _If it's not_, _then what might be happening to him? And where is he? _  
The thoughts of him being in pain, being tortured _Oh god!_   
It makes her start to panic. She's suddenly hot, and undoes the other buttons on her shirt, there's no fresh air in the room and her face flushes with color as her breathing become more and more rapid.  
  
Trent notices. He can hear her fast-shallow breaths. He watches her as she puts her hand to her head to wipe the beading sweat. The red flush has gone and the color now drops from her face, as she starts to feel dizzy and sick.   
  
He can see it, see she looks like she's about to pass out and he steps in "Ellis!" He gets her attention and as she looks at him, her chest is tight and she feels like she can't breathe which is making her head spin.  
"Ellis!" he calls her again, snapping his fingers to get her attention. His intervention gets her everyone else's attention as they look round at her "Just breath slowly"   
  
He's over by her side making her sit down "Can someone get her some water? Ellis, just sit down.... breath slowly, it's a panic attack. You'll be fine!"  
  
She wipes her forehead, clutching at her clothes as she panics. He talks softly making her breath with him as he tries to calm her. Clay hands her the bottle of water, as they both kneel by the side of the chair.   
She's really pale now, her hands are shaking "I'm fine, I just ..." she can't breathe and has to gather her emotions to speak "Sorry, it was just...just...seeing that video. I just felt sick!"

"She's okay!" Trent smiles at the room reassuring them. There's an uneasy tension in the air. as Jason looks at Sharpe, neither of them making any sort of move as they just continue to stare each other.

"Right Gentlemen!" Blackburn looks at his watch then he looks at Jason and Damien. He can tell there's something going on, but he has no idea what "Wheels up in two hours. Let's get these teams geared up!"

"Can I just interrupt for a moment, Commander?" Sharpe steps to the front of the room leaning on the desk in front of him, staring at those in the room.

"Certainly Sir!" Blackburn looks at him and takes a step back. "Sir is there a problem?"

"No, no problem Commander, I just have a few things to say" He takes a breath   
"Can I have your attention gentlemen! Firstly, I'd like to point out the sensitive nature of this mission. As we know those men should not have been where they were and that is causing some local hostility, we need to be sensitive to the local sensibilities, but..... these were good men; good soldiers and they did _not _deserve what happened to them. Now the same bastards that did this want to use them as propaganda."   
He pauses and everyone sits silent taking onboard his words. Ellis is still struggling with her emotions, she shakes, her lip quivering as she sips from the water. Both Clay and Trent have hold of her, trying to reassure her and keep her calm.   
  
Jason's watching her now _Sharpe should never have put her through this! He should have never put her in his position! _  
As pleased as Jason was at the time, that she had been attached to BRAVO, it was now making life difficult for her_ I wouldn't have done that. He should have taken her off this! _  
His eyes glance back at Sharpe, watching him, looking at him, wondering in his head how in Ellis's eyes they compare. He shouldn't but he can't help it.

Sharpe continues with his address to the team "We are not going to allow them to be used for any purpose. We know personally, why it's important to _this_ team that they get brought home"

Ellis looks up listening to his words, he looks at her "They were good men.... friends. Let's get this done quickly and to the best of our ability!"

The room nods in unison with a united "Yes Sir!"

Ellis grips at Clay's hand as she continues to stare at Ryan. She closes her eyes looking down thinking about Lucas as Sharpe continues   
"As you are aware this is a joint operation and Sgt Major Scott, will take point on this mission. Team leaders will report directly to me for any requisitions!"   
  
Ellis frowns, she's confused "Sorry Sir, but I'm fine I can deal with this!"

"Private Baxter, I'm not doubting your ability, but as I have just said all equipment requisitions will come directly through me, I will authorise all requests. Private Baxter you will liaise under my command!"  
She takes a breath, sighing, she knows what he's doing. He's making it so she will have to speak to him, have to spend time with him. She lets out a long deep sigh of annoyance.   
  
"Sorry Ellis, do you have a problem with that?"

"No Sir!"

"Good! Then you're all dismissed! Let's get this job done!"

"Sir!" the room repeats as they all stand up.

Blackburn raises his eyes "Gentlemen, get yourselves something to eat and get geared up, use the any other time to get some rest!"

She stands up Trent's checking her "You okay now?"

"Yeah, I'm good thanks" she smiles putting her hand on his arm "You go, I'll be fine!"   
He heads out and she waits for the rest of them to leave before she herself leaves the room. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

As she stands in the corridor she breathes in the cooler air. It's less stuffy than the briefing room and she leans her head back on the wall, taking a moment, closing her eyes. As she opens them Jason's standing in front of her "Ellis ... can we talk?"

"No! No, Jason go away. Just leave me alone!"   
  
She starts to walk down the corridor, but he grabs her arm "Ellis please, let me explain about earlier. Look, I know was out of order, you haven't done anything wrong"

She turns and glares at him pulling her arm from his grip "Explain?" she laughs "Explain what? I think you made it clear what you think of me?" she shakes her head "You know what, I don't want to hear it! I told you just leave me alone!"

"Ellis!" he looks around making sure no one is around to hear them "Please... just let me talk to you!"  
  
She shakes her head "Talk? Go on then. I'm listening what, what're you going to say? How are you going to put it right Jason!"

"I'm sorry, alright. I shouldn't have said what I said. I just... I just got..."

"You got what?" she laughs "Oh don't tell me you got jealous? No, no I'm not listening to that bullshit! You treated me like I was some whore, because your ego was hurt because you weren't the first person I slept with!" she glares at him she's so angry "So, what! We're not kids!"   
  
They stare at each other, their eyes searching each other's faces "No, we're done Jason!" She sighs taking a breath watching the look of hurt on his face "Oh come on, what the hell does it matter anyway? You're out of here soon anyway so why do you care?"

"Because I do! I do care! I care about you, okay!" he sighs, rubbing his face, unsure why he feels like this why he can't just walk away from her. Why he's risking so much for this "I mean it! I-I...." he stalls his words won't come out as she looks at him

"Sorry what's going on here?" there's a cough as Sharpe's stands only a few feet away with his arms folded staring at them both. "Is there a problem? Something I should know about?"

"No, no there's no problem, the Master Chief is just leaving!"

Jason feels a little apprehensive "No Sir, no problem. I was telling her that we're going to do everything to bring Lucas home."

Ryan chews the gum in his mouth, he's staring daggers at Jason " Well if you've said what you need to say then you can take your leave, Master Chief !"

"Sir!" he salutes then turns "Ellis, I'll catch up with you before I go" He touches her arm, trying to reassure her. He wants to say more but he can't now.

She pulls away looking embarrassed "Sure, whatever!" watching as he hesitantly walks away.

Ryan and her now just stare at each other, the atmosphere is uncomfortable "I thought you said that was over?"

"I did! It is!" she sighs as she tries to subdue the emotional turmoil raging inside her head.   
Trying to not give her feelings away "He was just ... just apologizing, for something he said to me earlier, that's all!"   
She bites her lip as he continues to watch her "Ryan... " she hesitates taking a deep breath then shakes her head ".. No, it doesn't matter. Look, I'm just getting a coffee then I'll be back to process the equipment manifest with you, that's what you wanted wasn't it, or do you want me to do it myself?"  
  
He nods watching her "I'll be in my office. Ellis.... " he looks at her "...I'll have a coffee as well."


	34. I want an apology!

It's late and the canteen area is quiet. Ellis pours the two coffees and she becomes aware of someone standing next to her.  
  
"Damien!" She takes a sharp intake of breath, unnerved by his presence so close.

"Well, I must say, you're a fast worker, Ellis!" he smugly laughs as he stares at her  
  
"Sorry?" she frowns, genuinely confused by this comment "What the hell are you talking about?" Annoyed by his presence she's dismissive of him.

  
He coughs, looking around making sure he has her alone "You, and Sharpe. You soon got it back on with him!"

She shakes her head "Go away Damien!" she frowns again, trying to ignore him "You know you shouldn't be anywhere near me; you've already been warned. So why don't you just go away and leave me alone!"

He laughs "Yes, you're right, I have been warned, but I don't think you're going to say anything, do you Ellis?" he laughs again as he strokes his finger gently on her arm.

She quickly pulls away "You know what Damien, I'm sick of you. If you're not careful I will do something, something you'll seriously regret!"  
She takes a deeper breath, looking around apprehensively, not liking the fact he's here when the room is empty.  
  
They continue to stare at each other. Her stomach's churning as she thinks about how much she hates him, wondering how she ever fell for his, smarmy ways.  
Being honest it was his confidence, his ego, his sexy bad boy charm that she couldn't resist, that and the fact her and Ryan had fallen out at the time and she wanted to cut loose, and make him jealous.  
  
"You know Jason told me..." she takes another deep breath "...about that video. That you've still got it?" She questions him, annoyed by the large grin he has spread across his face  
"I'll never know how the hell you got that, but I want you to delete it, like you promised!"

"Hmmm! That's funny, I don't remember promising that!" He frowns, laughing at her.  
  
Then he becomes more serious "Thing is Ellis, Sharpe ruffles a lot more feathers than he realises" he smiles "and that video! I said I _might_ delete it, _if_ it was of no more use to me, but err.. the way things are, I might still need it. I mean you have got to admit that he's being a little unpredictable at the moment. A little _over reactive_ about you! So, for now, I think it's best if I hang on to it, don't you?"  
He's still smirking as he continues to stare at her. "What?" he frowns, watching the searing, look of anger on her face "Ohhhh!" he laughs "Don't tell me, Master Chief Hayes didn't like it? You know, maybe ....you and him should make one?"  
He laughs again then he sighs taking a step back, looking her up and down"That's probably one of my only regrets, that we didn't!" he winks at her.

  
She feels sick, and is so annoyed, but tries hard not to show it because she knows he'd like that, he'd like the thought he had some control over the way she feels, trying to see if she reacts.

"You know there's nothing going on with me and Jason!" she breaths in "So, whatever you _think _it is you know, you've got nothing!"

"Oh....oh I see, nothing going on?" he frowns "So that's why you're back in Sharpe's bed!" He smiles "And there was me thinking you were playing away behind the Master Chiefs back"  
  
He's still smirking "Well, I'm sorry, but that video stays. We'll call it..... an insurance policy!"  
He's up close to her face now, staring her in the eyes "Besides, if I'm honest, it gives me a massive hard on watching it!"

She closes her eyes "You're sick, you know that!"

He smiles "You could be right, but err...you never use to mind, from what I remember."  
She puts her hand up to slap him, but he grabs at her wrist "Don't bother!"

  
She keeps her eyes closed unable to look at him, he makes her feel ill and she's about to say something when Clay's at her shoulder.  
  
They never heard him come in, he's been watching what's been going on between them. He removes Damien's hand from her wrist, stepping between them "Everything alright here?"

"Everything's fine, isn't it Ellis?"

"You alright?" Clay turns to her.

She nods "Yeah it's okay! It's nothing, just him being an asshole as normal!"  


"You need to back the hell off!" Clay pushes Damien away with his hand on his chest.  
  
"Well, well they're all just queuing up to be your knight in shining armour today" he looks at Clay as they eyeball each other, neither of them backing away  
"You know Ellis, if you kept your knickers on a bit more, you wouldn't have half the problems you do!"  
He smiles, watching Clay, studying him, goading him. "You waiting your turn are you Clay?"

"What the hell did you just say?!" Clay grabs at him slamming him into the wall behind " You have no right to say anything to her!"

"Clay!!!" She screams at him "Stop! Clay, please....just stop!" She puts her arm between them trying to separate them.

  
Damien's loving it the fact that Clay went for him first "Come on then Petty Officer Spenser, let's do this, if that's what you want!"  
Damien's cool and unfazed by Clay's aggression. He's physically bigger and debatably stronger, he stands smirking and waiting. "Hitting a senior ranked officer... _again_, that's going to get you a one-way ticket out of here this time. So come on, what are you waiting for?"

Jason, Ray and Sonny are in the corridor outside the canteen when Sonny spots Clay about to throw a punch. "Oh hell!"  
  
It's too late before they're through the door, Clay's thrown his first and it cracks on Damien's jaw, then Damien returns a lower deep blow landing it smack in Clay's gut. Clay drops, momentarily stopped, then as he recovers he swings his fist back.  
  
Ellis is between them, desperately trying to separate the them. "Clay please, don't give him the satisfaction!"  
  
Too late. Clay swings again catching his chin for the second time, but Damien shakes it off and punches back and in the next moment no one can stop it and they're full on fighting.  
  
Somewhere in the melee that follows Ellis takes a knock on the cheek from Clay.  
The power and energy he had behind it causes her to fall, hitting her head on the corner of the table before she lands on the ground.  
  
" Fuck!!" she cries out holding her face, which actually hurts more than her head, even though it's bleeding.  


Jason, Sonny and Ray are across from the corridor. Separating the fight, pulling a rabid Clay back "You son of a bitch!" he screams at Damien

"Come on!" Damien's still laughing, still teasing him "Come on Clay, is that really the best you've got?"

"What the _HELL_ is going on here?!" Jason grabs Clay, holding him tight by the collar on his shirt "Get the hell away!"  
He throws him towards Sonny who has to use all his force to hold him back  
"I'll deal with you in minute!" he pulls Clay towards him before pushing him back towards Sonny "Get him the hell out of here!"

"Come on Goldilocks, let's go!" he pulls the still angry Clay away, tussling with him, shoving him through the door. He's still raging and swearing as Sonny manhandles him outside.  


Jason's bent over the floor helping Ellis up. Her head bleeding where she hit the table "You okay?" he frowns checking her face, he can see the red mark from where Clay's punch hit her on the cheek.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine!" she nods holding her head.

Ray has hold of Damien. "Get the hell off me!" he pulls away from Ray's grip and straightens his uniform, taking a deep breath in  
"You need to reign him back in." he points at Jason "He's out of control!"  
  
He takes a moment, still reeling from some of Clay's punches, then he notices the blood on Ellis's hand "She okay?" he frowns looking at Jason glaring at him "She shouldn't have got caught up in that!"  
  
Jason turns to look at him "What the hell was that all about?"

Damien shrugs, awkwardly avoiding the question "I don't know you'll have to ask him!" he sighs "I guess he doesn't have a sense of humour"  
He breathes out, grimacing, flexing his shoulder, it hurts from where he punched Clay. "He's a hot head. Got a little over sensitive about a joke I made, isn't that right Ellis?"  
  
Damien wipes the blood from the corner of his mouth. He's up close and in Jason's face now "You know Master Chief, you need to get your team in control"  
They both stare at each other, Ellis watching the stand off. She holds her head, not saying anything. "Oh and Jason, I want a full apology from him!"  


Jason shakes his head "Come on, I'll get Trent to take a look at you!" he sighs "What the hell went on here Ellis?"

"I don't know!" She shrugs " They just got in a fight, it was nothing" she gets up from the floor, her eyes focused on Damien.  
  
"No that's bullshit!" Jason frowns, his eyes stuck trying to read the expression on Damien's face "Clay doesn't just fight about _nothing_. Something here lit the touch paper!"  
He looks back and forward between them, something in his gut telling him something's not right here. He looks at the blood on her hand then back at Damien "Did you cause this?"

"No!" Damien frowns shaking his head "It was..." he sighs before he answers "..it was an accident"

"Accident?" Jason frowns "She has a cut head and bruised cheek, how is that an _accident?_"

"Well don't blame me. You need to ask your man, he's the one who hit her!" he laughs putting his hand up trying to walk the statement back "He didn't mean to, it was a mistake, his fist caught her by accident that's' all! She just got in the way."

"I don' t know what's going on with you and Clay lately, but trust me, I will find out!"  


  
Ellis ignores both of them, emptying the coffees she poured early and making two more fresh ones. She takes a breath, sighing as she puts the palm of her hand gently on the bump on her head "Awww!" she grimaces

"Come on!" Jason gets hold of her arm "Let's get that looked at"

"Get the hell off me!" she pulls away and picks up the coffees "I'm fine, I don't need your help! I just wish you'd all leave me the hell alone!"

Damien laughs as he looks at Jason who's frustrated with her "Ellis, you need to get that looked at!"  


She ignores him, heading back down the corridor towards the offices.

Jason gives one last glare at Damien before he follows her "Ellis!" he calls "Did you hear me?"

"Leave me alone Jason! I'm fine." she sighs not admitting her head really does hurt. She looks behind her as he keeps following and calling her name  
"Ellis, please!... Can we talk? Don't be like this!"

She turns around, facing him in the corridor "I said ...leave... me.. alone!" she sighs "Please!"

As she turns to head back into the corridor she doesn't see Sharpe. He's stepped from his office, the noise of Jason shouting at her attracting his attention.  
As Ellis turns away from Jason she walks straight into him. It forces the coffees from her hand, the contents spill everywhere, all over her, and all over the front of his shirt.  
"Oh fuck!" she looks up sighing _Shit, can today get any worse_ she rubs her head "Ryan..." she corrects herself "_Sir._. I'm sorry, I didn't see you there!"

Sharpe looks furious wiping the hot coffee from the front of his now stained shirt "Well that's obvious!"  
He looks up ignoring Ellis, he's concentrating his stare on Jason "What the hell is going on here?"

"Sir, I just..." Jason stumbles over his words as his eyes meet with Sharpe "I just....I just wanted her to let Trent look at her head!"

"Look at her head? Why what's happened?" He frowns

"I'm fine, it's nothing. Really! Jason I told you just leave me alone!"

Sharpe can see the mark on her face "Master Chief do you care to explain this?"

"She err mm... got knocked over, an accident, hit her head on the table!"

Ryan frowns "How did she get _knocked over_? What accident?"

Jason sighs "Clay and Damien, they err mm...they got in a fight and..."

"Clay Spenser!?" Sharpe cuts him off "Well I might have known he'd be involved!" He lifts her chin looking at the red bruise that's starting to appear. Inside he's fuming  
"Master Chief!" he's in Jason's face "May I suggest you go, and you get that boy sorted out! Do it _now!_ And after you have words, you can tell him I want to speak with him, _again_! I want to know exactly what has occurred! Is that clear?"

"Sir!" he takes a breath "Ellis, I'll get Trent to look at you, come on!"

"Master Chief, I think I just gave you an order!" he glares at him "Now I will take care of this! You, get your man sorted out and then get your team geared up for the mission!"

"Sir, I can..."

He cuts Jason off again "I'm sorry, did I not just speak?" he sighs " Seriously, are we going to do this _again?_"  
  
"No Sir!" Jason salutes. He turns to leave, only looking back once, his face full of apology to Ellis. She's unable to look at him and awkwardly looks away.

  
Sharpe smiles at her holding her chin as he studies the mark on her face then he sighs looking at his shirt "Looks like we need to get cleaned up!" he indicates for her to enter the office.  
  
As she enters the office she watches him, looking at his shirt, then looking at her own coffee stained clothes.  
"Ryan, I'm sorry, about that!" One thing she knows is Ryan is particular about is his clothes, the high bar of his standards of perfection, so she knows this will be annoying him, she notices the way he's frowning.  
  
He unbuttons his shirt and she smiles as she watches him undressing. Not only is his shirt stained so is the white T- shirt he's wearing underneath.  
  
"Sit down!" he indicates to the edge of the desk. He lifts her chin again to look at the red mark beside her eye, then tilting her face he looks at the lump on her head before he opens up the first aid kit on the wall of the office.

"Ryan, you don't have to do that, I'm fine!" She frowns, watching as he takes one of the instant cold packs, breaking the seal, shaking it before placing it gently against the lump on her head.

"Aww!" She grimaces as the cold starts to seep into the cut "I said I'm fine, just get off me!" she pulls away

"Will you shut up and let me look. Ellis,do you want to tell me how this happened?" he takes her hand placing it on the cold pack "Hold that!"  
  
"Ahhh!" she flinches again, the pain hurts more now, and the cold is giving her a headache. She closes her eyes, letting out a long sigh as she tries to relax, tries to forget all the drama of earlier.

"I don't think you'll need stitched, but best if you get it looked at by medical. Just to check you over and be sure."

"It'll be fine. It's nothing, really."

  
He lifts her chin with his hand forcing her to look him in the eyes "So you going to tell me what happened and how Clay ends up hitting you?"

"Clay didn't _hit me _it was an accident, he just.... "She shakes her head and laughs "Just umm... too much testosterone, that's all!"

"So, what were they arguing about to get in a fight? Did Damien do something to you?"

"No, no not really!" she sighs taking the ice pack off her head "Oh don't look at me like that! He was being an ass... going on about that video on his phone and I got angry with him, Clay just stepped in to defend me. This wasn't Clay's fault. So, please don't take this out on him!"

Ryan laughs "You want me to go easy on that cocky little shit?" he shakes his head and laughs "So what did Damien say about that video?"

She shrugs "Just that... it's his insurance policy, that he's protecting himself from you"

He thinks for a moment "So have you seen this video? Do you know what's on it?"

"No." she watches him "I can guess, I mean, I think I know when it's from"

"Can you tell it's me on there?"

She laughs "How the hell do I know that, if it's from when I think then I guess so!" she frowns "I don't know, I don't know what you can see and to be honest I don't want to know. It's bad enough that he's getting kicks out of it!"

"I know, but if I'm going to do anything about it I need you to find out whats on it! I can't do anything unless I know for sure it's me."

"What the hell do you mean by that?" she frowns "Who the hell do you think it's going to be?"

"No Ellis!.... Sorry! What I mean is, if you can't tell it's me, then I can something, because if it did surface you can just deny it, say it's someone else!"

"Seriously?!" she sighs and annoyed she runs her hands through her hair.  
She now watches as he pulls the coffee stained T-Shirt over his head, throwing it on the chair behind the desk and she almost gasps out lout at the sight of his naked torso. How toned, how bronzed and dare she admit, how sexy he looks and stood here, bare chested only wearing his khaki combats.  
She can't take her eyes off him and he can tell she's looking him over, checking him out and he likes it. He smiles at her brushing her hair back from her face, gently allowing his thumb to stroke the bruise on her face. "You need to understand, I can't have that video surface, not now!"

She frowns, their eyes locked on each other "Why _not now_? Ryan, what's going on? What are you not telling me?"

"I've..."he sighs knowing she's not going to like it "I've been offered a promotion, well not so much a promotion more a sidestep, but it's out of this sandbox."

"You're leaving ?" she frowns, her stomach lurches at the sudden thought of him not being here anymore and she's not sure if she likes the feeling.

"Maybe, if this goes to plan. But that video, I can't have that out in the open."

She bites her lip, something about this annoys her "So it's okay if it's not you but what? It doesn't matter about me, I mean my reputation?"

"Of course, it does!" he strokes her face "I don't want that video out there at all but... if you can't tell it's me, Damien has nothing, and I can do something about him! I need to know what's on there. I need you to get him to show you!"

She gasps then laughs out loud "Are you serious?!! What the fuck!.. No!.. Ryan, I'm not going to get him to show me! Jesus Ryan, really!?"

"No, I didn't mean...... Sorry! But there must be someone you trust that could find out. What about Wes?"

"Oh my god! No, no way! Wes won't go anywhere near him, and if I tell him about that video he'll kill him. Then you will have a problem!"

Ryan smiles "Yeah, yeah I can imagine. I already had him come after me, warn me off."

She frowns "Really !"

"Oh, it was nothing." He laughs "But Ellie, you can tell him, he does it again and there will be consequences! You can't protect him forever."

He takes the spare clean shirt from the back of the office door and removes it from its hanger putting it on over his arms, but deliberately not fastening the buttons. Still leaving his bronzed, toned flesh on display. She smiles, slightly embarrassed that she's looking, that she's enjoying what she's sees. Remembering now just how fit his body is and how much she liked it.

"So?" his hand now caressing her cheek "There's no way to find out?"

She sighs thinking "Maybe...I might know someone I could ask!" she sighs again then laughs "Yeah, possibly. There is someone, it would definitely be his thing to watch it!"

Ryan frowns "Someone I can keep in line though? Someone if it _is _me that won't go telling tales?"

"No, they'd be fine!" she bites her lip "Though ... they have been waiting a while for a promotion so maybe you could.. "

He nods "They get a look at that video and it's not me....they can have what they want!"  
  
He leans in placing his hands either side of her legs as she sits on the desk, staring her in the eyes, watching her with a deep longing. Inches apart they can both feel the buzz of the electricity between them.  
  
"Ryan, stop!" she pulls away, but she still keeps looking at him. Her heart is beating so fast as her eyes wander to the toned flesh, under the unbuttoned shirt.  
  
He's lost in her eyes watching her stroking her cheek as she sits on the edge of the desk. Then brushing the strands of her hair back He leans forwards still keeping eye contact he brushes his lips on hers "How's it feel?"

She smiles awkwardly "How's what feel?"

"Your head, how is it?" he continues to brush his lips on hers, tempting her. Dipping his tongue between her softness, teasing her with his kisses.  
  
She closes her eyes "Ummm... it's fine! I'm fine!" He kisses her properly now, his caressing hers soft but firm.  
  
"Woah!" she holds him back "Ryan.. don't!" she tries to stand up "I need to go clean up the spillage in the hallway."

He nods "Yeah you should, but ....not yet!" she's trapped between his arms and he leans forward and again he kisses her.  
  
His lips firmly land on her "Ryan...... please, don't! Don't make this complicated again."  
  
She puts her hand on his bare chest to stop him but she can feel his heart beating fast beneath her fingers, the warm touch of his soft skin, his firm muscles on his chest, and she closes her eyes not daring to look at him.  
Her heart is beating so fast and a flurry of feelings swamp her body and a warm excited feeling between her legs and she knows she has to stop this before it goes too far "I need to umm... do some work, get ready for this mission! I need to go check ....."

"There's plenty of time!" he leans in again, his tongue taking hers as he kisses her more deeply, more wantonly. Standing between her legs a she continues to sit there, finding she's now letting him. Their mouths engaged in kissing fully, her not resisting. Slowly succumbing to his kisses, and his embrace.  
  
He holds her head in his hands, kissing her neck, then back to her lips. Kissing her more and more passionately.  
She sighs giving in to it. His firm strength. Her small hands touching his strong arms it feels good, she'd forgotten how good, and now she doesn't want to say no.  
She wants him, needs him, unable to make herself stop him and even is she could, she's not sure she actually wants to.  
She knows it's a mistake but she wants him to do this, and she lets him, as he unbuttons her shirt.


	35. Wait!

**So are you all still reading this one?  
Love to hear any comments from you all  
**   
** What do we think? Who will win the battle for her heart and will karma catch up with everyone?**

Jason throws Clay back against the wall "And just _what _the _hell_ was that all about?"

Clay drops down and sits on the ground, holding his chin rubbing it. It's sore and aches from one of Damien's punches

Sonny's pacing, shaking his head, sighing "Christ Clay, we're about to get spun up and you pull this stunt! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Jason's pacing as well, while Clay sits, still rubbing his face "So?" Jason frowns "Clay, I'm waiting for an explanation" he waits again "Are you listening? What the hell was that about in there?"

"I don't know." Clay shrugs "Jason, he's an asshole!"

Jason sighs "Yeah well you may think so, but that's not the point! You can't be doing this. We're under the microscope as it is. Are you trying to get yourself kicked out of here, or what? You know Sharpe's eating my ass on this!"

Clay looks down, he's angry inside but trying not to let it come out.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Clay? You and him, you've been going at it for weeks now."

He shrugs "I just don't like the way he is around Ellis, that's all."

Jason frowns "That's not your problem. You need to stay out of that!"

Clay laughs "Like you? You stay out of her business as well? Or _are_ you her business, hmmm?"

"Don't go there Clay! I'm warning you, you need to leave this alone!"

"Look at you. Why the hell are you defending him? The guys an asshole, he shouldn't even be here, not after what he's done!"

"_Done_? What do you mean? What he's done?"

Clay sighs "Nothing, just ignore me. I'm sorry alright. But you'd have done the same thing if you'd have heard him!"

"No! No, you meant something. I wanna know what!"

"I told you ....it's the way he treats Ellis, she doesn't deserve it."

Jason looks at Sonny and Ray "Why don't you two go and get something to eat, then you can start getting our gear loaded up, while I sort _this_ problem out!"  
Jason nods, indicating for them to leave "Clay, I need to smooth this over, before we spin up! And that starts with you apologizing!"

"What? No, to hell with that, I'm not apologizing! No, no way!"

"Sharpe wants you to apologize to Damien. So, you will apologize, that's an order!"

"An order? Jason, you can't be serious. No!" he frowns "No, I'm not apologizing to him, he can go to hell!"

"Well that's what they want, so that's what will happen!" Jason sighs softening his tone "Look Clay, I need this fixed. You need to do this!"

"Then what? I apologize, take the blame, then what?" he sighs "No, no way and you wouldn't apologize either if you knew!" he shakes his head "I'm going to get something to eat!"

Jason grabs him and shoves him back down "You sit your ass down!"  
He lets out a long sigh, trying to contain his anger "What the hell's got into you Clay? I've not seen you like this. What's the problem here?"

"I can't tell you!" Clay sighs running his hands through his hair.

Jason laughs "You can't tell me?" he frowns "Well I'm ordering you to tell me!"

"Jason don't, I promised. I won't break my word."

  
Jason looks at him and sighs again "You gave your word? Clay, your word outside this team doesn't mean anything! I thought your loyalty was to BRAVO, am I wrong?"  
  
"No! No, you're not wrong. I just can't tell you this, and trust me, you don't wanna know!"

"I'm giving you one choice here Clay, you speak up or you're off this mission, and you'll probably find yourself on a plane home. Damien wants an apology and you'll give one!"

"Go to hell Jason!" Clay stands up they're now face to face, both angry.  
  
Jason grabs him, slamming him back against the wall "What the hell did you just say to me?"

"I know what you've been doing..... with Ellis!" he laughs "And it should be you looking out for her, not asking for an apology for that asshole!"

"Look, I know what went on with her and Damien, and yeah I have to admit I had a hard time with it but.. there's nothing going on with us now. It's her problem. We don't need to get involved!"

"You had a hard time with it?" Clay laughs."Seriously?" He frowns as he stares at Jason "So, he can say what the hell he likes to her, and you're happy with that?"

"I'm not saying that" he sighs "Look, I know they have history, but Clay, that's none of our business! Certainly not yours!"

"None of our business? What when he did what he did!" Clay closes his eyes, stopping the conversation to think. He studies the expression on Jason's face "You don't actually know what he did, do you?"

Jason frowns "I know they had a _thing,_ and I know it ended badly. But like I say.... "

"Ended badly?" Clay frowns "Oh my god, yeah you could say that. You know wanna know how it ended?" Clay shakes his head, staring at Jason. He bites his lip and takes a breath, realizing he's about to break a confidence, a promise he made "He attacked her ... forced himself on her!"

"What the hell?" Jason frowns "What, wait... forced himself, what you saying he...." Jason feels like the wind just got knocked out of him. A sick punch in the guts and he slumps down on the floor, his head in his hands.  
"Christ! Are you sure?" he sighs "No, I didn't know. I mean... she didn't say anything. Oh my god! I can't believe what I said to her! Shit!"

Clay nods, taking a breath, regaining control "Yeah, yeah it's true. Wes told me first but then she confirmed it. I don't know there was some bullshit, and Sharpe covered it over. She ended withdrawing the complaint. But now, he won't leave her alone. He was saying stuff, and that's why I hit him"

"Hit him..." Jason sighs "I'll do more than hit him, when I see him!" he rubs his head "Christ, why the hell didn't she tell me!"

"Jason you gotta leave this, she doesn't want any more trouble from it, she'll certainly be mad I told you! But, I'm not gonna apologize to him!" Clay frowns "Jason, are you listening?"

"No, no don't worry I'll sort this. Just go get your gear, and Clay, not a word to anyone. Let's just keep it as it was."

"Sure thing! If that's what you want." Clay frowns "Jace, you really like her, right "

Jason sighs while still rubbing his head "Just get your gear Clay!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

" Ryan!" she sighs, pushing her hand against him, holding him back as he starts to undress her "What the hell are you doing?" She frowns, shaking her head, pulling her shirt from his grip "We can't do this, someone could come in!"  
He kisses her neck and she pulls away "Ryan! This is wrong we need to stop!"

"Don't worry!" he puts his hand to her cheek kissing her again. "Oh come on Ellie, it's never worried you in the past! Why worry now!"  
  
He smiles at her and she watches the look on his face and laughs "Don't worry? Ryan, what the hell are you thinking?"  
  
He continues to pull at her shirt, sliding it down her arms until the cuffs are at her wrists, pulling until she removes her hands from it. Now she's sitting on the desk in her khaki vest with him kissing her.  
She sighs again as she holds his cheek in her hand, looking him in the eyes, only inches from his face just both watching each other, both in sync.

He massages his hand on her breast, still keeping eye contact, he can see the glint of excitement in her eyes as he slides the front of her top down, slipping her bra strap from her shoulder and kissing the flesh where it sat.Then he frees her breast from the lace material, caressing it   
"God I've missed you so much!"  
  
She sighs, her feelings are torn as she leans her head back, while he plants kisses down her chest.Every now and again he looks up, checking she wants this, giving her long and lingering looks, kissing from her mouth, down her neck, over her chest and down on to her breast, his lips making small kisses over it.

She groans "Ryan please we need to stop! We can't do this, it's too risky"

"Shhh!" he covers her mouth with his "They're all busy getting ready, no-one's going to disturb us." He starts to unbutton her combats, sliding her hips forward on the desk "I want you; do you know how long I've wait to have you back!"

"Ryan!" she sighs her head a mix of feelings and thoughts _Shit! Ellis, what are you doing?  
_She runs her hand through her hair then stops him."Woah! Ryan, slow down!" she sighs "Let's think about what we're doing here?"

He smiles "I think you know what we're doing!" he frowns. Then he smiles, teasing her "Come on Ellie, stop playing hard to get, you knew this was going to happen. You and I, it's meant to be"  
  
He kisses her again, she sighs and slowly but reluctantly, she gives in. He pulls her top down kissing her breast and she pushes herself towards him.  
"Oh.... God!!!" Her heart is beating out of her chest. She's getting turned on, and flushes with excitement.   
She can feel how hard the want in his pants, is for her and she puts her hand on his head holding him against her breast as he kisses her harder, taking her nipple in his mouth, licking and kissing, turning her on. She leans back on the desk freely enjoying it, then....  
  
"Ryan, STOP!"  
she takes a deep breath and he looks around. They're both frozen to the spot by the sound of the quick, loud knocking on the office door.  
  
"WAIT!!!" Sharpe calls out as Ellis quickly tries to cover herself.   
  
But it's too late, the door opens and Blackburn steps in the doorway. "Sir, we need you to ..... err..." he stops mid-sentence, catching them where they are.  
  
Ellis puts her head in her hands embarrassed and doesn't look at him_ Oh shit! _She runs her hand through her hair as Ryan turns his back to her.

"I told you to_ WAIT, _Commander Blackburn!" he sighs really annoyed by the intrusion. He can still feel his hard want for Ellis in his trousers and it's not going to subside anytime soon, so this unexpected interruption pisses him off even more.   
"Just _what _is so important it can't wait Commander?" He stands in front of Ellis keeping her covered by his back

"Umm...Sir..." Eric's embarrassed not sure what's actually going on. He can make a guess based on the fact Sharpe's shirt is undone and Ellis is sitting in her vest top "Sorry! I didn't realize you were busy!"  
  
Sharpe acknowledges their state of undress "If you were wondering, it's spilled coffee Commander. You might notice from the corridor and it would seem Private Baxter has been involved in an incident. One of BRAVO team is involved. I've spoken with Master Chief Hayes and he is supposed to be dealing with it, I would appreciate if you could follow it up! Make sure it doesn't happen again!"

Blackburn frowns confused. Wondering if he has read the situation wrong "An incident Sir? Sorry what incident? I don't understand." He frowns deeper as Sharpe points out the red mark on her cheek "Sir...I-I don't know what's been going on, but I will look into it!"

"What did you want Commander?"

"Ummm ... we have some intelligence just come in and err.... we need your authorization before the teams take off!"

"Very well" he takes a breath "I'll be there in a moment!"

"Sir we. ... err..."

"I _SAID_! I will be there in a moment!"

"Yes sir!"

"Oh, and Commander Blackburn, You had better hope your men have got their issues dealt with. Whatever is going on, it needs to be squared away before they leave, is that clear?" he glares at Blackburn "Now close the door. I will be there in a few moments "  
Ryan lets out a long breath, he runs his hand over this face and turns to look at Ellis who has her head in her hands.  
  
"Oh my god! Shit!!!" she sighs "Ryan, what the hell are we going to do?"

Ryan laughs "Oh Ellie come on, don't worry about it!" he holds her chin kissing her again. The hard throbbing in his combats springs back to life and he puts his hand back on her breast as he kisses her again.

"Ryan! Stop!" she pushes him back "Seriously, you're not worried about that?" She sighs frowning at him as she points to the door "Oh my god! He, Blackburn, he saw what we were doing!"   
She gasps, shocked "I can't believe you're saying _don't worry_! Of course I'm worried!" she sighs again "Christ, what the hell we're we thinking?"

"Ellie, what are you worried for? What's _he _going to do? I mean it's not like he can report me?" He laughs " Ellie seriously, don't worry!"

  
She stands up pushing him back as she picks up her shirt from the floor and turns it the right way round to put it on "No this, this shouldn't have happened"  
She sighs "Jeez, when will I learn! Why the hell do I let you do this to me, every damn time!" she laughs at herself for being so weak. "I'm pathetic!"

He sits on the desk watching her. She's flustered and can't do the buttons on her shirt "Here let me help!" he laughs as he starts slowly doing them for her.

"Are you laughing at me?" She frowns pushing his hand away "This, this is not funny!" she sighs "Oh my god, this is not good. What the hell, you think this is funny? I have to go out there now, and work with him! What the hell do I say?"

Ryan frowns at her tone "Don't say anything." He folds his arms as his frown turns to a smile "I told you not to worry!"  
He loves watching her, especially when she's mad. But he still has such an ache in his pants, the want for her and he wants to relieve it "Ellie, come here!" he takes her hand pulling her towards him

"Stop calling me that! My name is Ellis!"

He smiles "Are you mad at me _Ellis_?" he sighs

"Yes! Yes, I'm fuckin' mad at you. Did you see what just happened? Seriously, you're not untouchable Ryan. One day this shit, it's gonna catch up with us both. I hope you think it's worth it!"  
  
He frowns annoyed "Oh but I am, I am untouchable here!" he smiles "I'm the one in control, and someone like Blackburn.....I don't worry about them. Go to the medical, get your head looked at and leave Blackburn to me!"  
He smiles "What his team just did, he's going to have bigger problems to worry about. Trust me!"  
  
He kisses her again but this time she's more reluctant, this time shaking her head "This can't happen Ryan! Jeez, I promised myself, I wouldn't let you do this, not again!"

He smiles "Ellie... you know as well as I do, this was going to happen!" he puts his hand on her waist pulling her towards him.

"No! No, you're not doing this" she sighs "Ryan, I can't!" she takes a breath, fastening the last button on her shirt before turning to leave.  
  
He catches her waist "Ellie wait! I've got something for you!"  
  
She stops and looks at him, shaking her head reminding herself why she said she wouldn't do this "Ryan...." She closes her eyes "What?"  
  
"Just wait!"  
  
He goes to the drawer of his desk and she laughs "Ryan..." she sighs wondering what it is he's getting from the desk, remembering his desk drawer, it's where he kept the _toys_ they use to play with " I am not doing anything else with you, not after that!"

"Well..." he smiles "while that is a nice idea, I don't have anything in my drawer, remember this is just a temporary office, and... as I haven't had anyone in this office before, I didn't think to bring anything over but err mmm.... I'm sure we could go over to my other office, if you want!"

"Stop it! I'm not doing that. This isn't a game. Ryan, this is serious!"

"If you say so, but seriously just wait!"  
  
She hears him as closes the drawer and comes around the desk, sitting himself on the edge facing her "Close your eyes!"

She frowns "Close my eyes? Why, what are you doing?"

"I said close your eyes"

She sighs "Ryan, what is this?"   
  
She does as she's told as he takes her hand in his then he places a small box in it "You can open them now!"

She looks at him, and then at the box "What the hell is this?" She frowns, a deeper, more confused frown this time.

"Open it!"

She cautious, unsure and she just stares at the small black box. As she opens the lid it reveals a white gold, diamond solitaire ring.  
She laughs, taking a deep shocked breath "What the hell?" she frowns at him "I mean, it's beautiful but what the hell is it?" she looks at him confused.

He coughs, slightly embarrassed " I got it for you. I've had it here since Melissa left, I wanted to give it to you then, but err .. you were so angry and.... the opportunity didn't come up, but it's yours, if you want it!"

"Ryan...." She gasps " I don't know what to say? Oh my god, are you asking me to.....to marry you?" she frowns as she looks at the ring. She's in shock  
"How the hell do you think this is going to happen?" she stares at him confused, the deep set frown back on her face.

"We can make it work, if that's what you want!" he sighs "I told you, I'm in for a transfer, it's based in London. We can get out of this sandpit and back to reality. You give it six months, resign your commission, say on medical grounds. Something, like, say you're depressed after what happened to Lucas. Then you can come to London"

She laughs "You've really thought this through. But you want me to give up my job? To do what?" She puts her hand to her head "Oh my god.... I can't believe you're doing this to me now"  
  
She bites her lip watching him as he puts his hands on her waist, taking the ring from the box he puts it on her finger "Let's get out of here first, see where it goes!"

She stares at the ring on her finger, admiring how great it looks "Oh my god, Shit!" she rubs her head "I don't get you. You told me we couldn't see each other, went back to her! Hell, you wouldn't even say you loved me, even though I told you how I felt, and you still went back!"

"Ellie, I did that because I needed to put my promotion in place. I couldn't have any scandal. In the same way I need you to find out what's on that video. I can't have that surfacing. If there's proof we've been seeing each other, it could risk this" he holds her hand with the ring."This!"

"Scandal?" she laughs "Is that what I was?" she frowns "No! No you're not doing this to me. You can't just buy a ring, fuck me and then everything will be okay. It doesn't work like that!"

He looks at his watch as he buttons his shirt "Alright fine." He sighs "Look you don't have to answer me now, just think about it. You hate this place so think about getting out of here. Being with me" he smiles as he grabs her waist, kissing into her neck pulling her close to his body.

She can feel his strength round her, his smell, the scent of his aftershave. He leans down and kisses her again.   
"Anyway, accept the ring or not, but... " he laughs "I am going to fuck you again!" He pushes his groin against her, imagining taking her right now, right here.

She pushes him back "No, I can't do this!" she takes the ring off putting it back in the box and she hands it back "Sorry!"

He closes her hand around the box "Keep it! Just think about it, you don't give me an answer yet. But tell me you won't say no, not yet".  
  
He kisses her again, he can feel her resist, but then she relaxes into it and kisses him back before she leans her head against him. Taking in that scent of his aftershave. "Awww!" she rubs her head as the lump rubs against him

"Right, I need to go. I need to sort Blackburn out. Go and get your head looked at. Get some painkillers" he stares at her "Think about this seriously! Oh and Ellie.....sort that video out!"

  
He leaves her in the office she sits on the desk looking at the box in her hand and she lets out a long sigh, feeling confused, feeling annoyed , feeling stupid for what she's done and her mind wanders elsewhere. "Oh, what the fuck have I done!"


	36. Helo's ready!

"Alright can you get that loaded on to the helo!" Ellis looks at her watch "They have thirty minutes to wheels up, so we need to move this stuff now!"

"Ellis, where do you want this?"

She turns looking at Taylor as he moves some of the ammo boxes "Yeah, you can get that loaded on too!"   
She sighs, laying her clipboard down. Then she rubs the side of her head which still hurts from where she hit it earlier.  
  
"Owwhh! Shit!" She can feel the hard lump under the skin. She sits herself down, on one of the large wooden crates, that are stored here in the helo hanger.   
She feels tired, and her mind is a whirl of varying thoughts but she's then suddenly disturbed by hearing her name called.

"Ellis!"  
  
Closing her eyes and biting her lip she tries to ignore the sound of the voice that's calling her.   
She doesn't answer and he calls again "Ellis! Ellis, can I talk to you?"

Slowly she looks up, half-heartedly acknowledging him "What is it Jason?" she sighs "I'm really busy right now!" She shrugs "Do you need something, for the mission?"

"Yeah umm..." he hands her a piece of paper "Clay asked if you can get these on too?"

She nods as she reads some of the weapon requirements on Clay's list "Okay fine, I'll get them loaded up. Was there anything else?" she studies the paper, using it as an excuse not to look at him.

"Okay, thanks." he pauses a moment watching her, even though she's still avoiding his gaze "Look umm... have you got a minute? I mean can we talk?"

She sighs turning around and finally looking at him "Jason, I'm busy. The helo's are up in thirty minutes, and I've still got a tonne of things to do!"   
  
They stand face to face, just staring at each other "Ellis please! I just want to say a couple of things. Just give me a few minutes. I just wanna explain."

"I'm sorry, like I said, I'm really busy right now. I haven't got time and besides, I think you said everything you had to say, don't you"?

"Ellis please, that's what I need to talk to you about. The things I said, I shouldn't have." he sighs " I am so sorry! There's things I didn't know that ..."

She looks at him, staring him straight in the eyes, indicating with her hand for him to stop the conversation "Jason, really" she sighs " I'm sorry but I think it's for the best if we keep this professional now. There's nothing more we can say to each other!"   
  
She turns her back, and looks at her clipboard, marking off the supplies but she can still feel his eyes boring into her back and she swallows hard.   
The emotional ache hurts in catches in the back of her throat, as a swell of emotions rushes through her veins.

"Ellis..." he gets hold of her arm "Please! Just give me five minutes, to say what I've got to say."

"No! No Jason, I'm sorry, I need to get on!"   
  
She takes a deep breath, then looks around to make sure no one can hear them   
"Jason, just to make this clear, this.... us, it's done! I get it, I really do but I don't need you to tell me it's over!"   
She takes another deep breath in as she watches him "Look, you're leaving in a couple of weeks and so I think it's best for both of us, if we just keep things work related now. So, if you don't mind, I have to get on!"

"God damn it, Ellis!" he takes a frustrated breath, his face wrinkled with anger "No, you know what? You're right, there is no point in this"   
  
He sighs "But I just want you to know that I was sorry for what I said. There was some things I didn't realize when I said it"   
He continues to stare at her "But yeah, you're right, we should keep this professional from now on!"   
He takes another deep breath, and then doesn't say anything else before he walks away.

She clutches at her clip board, holding it close, tight to her chest. Her body is shaking and she takes deep breaths as she tries to ease the massive hurt inside. She stands staring as he walks across the tarmac, back to where the helo's are waiting.

_Oh Jason! _She looks up, berating herself. _Shit! Why did I do that?   
_She puts her hand to her mouth, so no one hears her cry, while she concentrates on gathering herself together.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"God damn it!" Jason clenches his fists, throwing his helmet inside the helo, then lumping himself down, sitting in the open doorway "Fuck!" he rubs his head staring back at the maintenance hanger from where he just came.

"Jace?" Ray frowns watching him "Hey brother, you okay?" He calls his name again as Jason finally turns to acknowledge him   
"I said are you okay?" He stands next to him trying to work out what it is he's watching, he can just about make out Ellis, she's across in the helo hanger, walking around moving supplies.   
Ray shakes his head "You wanna tell me what's going on brother? You got somethin' on your mind?"

"No!" Jason sighs, looking up at him "Oh I don't know Ray! She's so damn stubborn!"

Ray laughs "She what's on your mind?"he frowns again.

Now Jason frowns as he looks at Ray before he shrugs his shoulders. "Oh jeez Ray!"   
He rubs his head "You know, I said some things that I shouldn't have, that I didn't mean!" He sighs again "And then Clay told me something, and now...well now she won't talk to me, so I can't put it right!"

"This is Ellis we're talking about?" Ray's confused and he sits himself down beside him, as Jason slowly nods "Jace, you know I already told you that you were playing with fire there!"

"Yeah I know Ray, but....I just can't..." he sighs "Oh I don't know. She just got under my skin that's all!"

Ray nods "Jace, you really wanna risk your whole career, over a deployment bunk up?"   
Ray frowns watching the expression on his face  
"And you know brother, that Sharpe's all over us already! I mean Clay's not helping that situation." He rubs his head, thinking before he speaks "And I guess you heard the rumors..." He pauses a moment ".. about the Group Captain and her?" he frowns as Jason looks at him.

Jason nods slowly "Yeah I know! But they're umm.. they're not rumors. Her and him, they... they did have a thing!" he looks at Ray's face at he frowns at him  
"Oh it was a while back" he laughs "But true story there, Ray!"  
Jason laughs it off then sighs a long breath "Though I can't say it didn't sting like hell when I found out it was actually serious."

Ray sighs "Jeez Jason, what the hell are you playing at? You're treading on some serious toes there! You're gonna get burned on this!"

Jason laughs and smiles solemnly, nodding his head as he thinks "You know what Ray; I think I already did!"

Ray frowns taking a deep breath, watching as Jason sits there "Brother, are you serious, about her?" he frowns "I mean have you got feelin's for her? Like serious feelin's?"

"I don't know Ray. I don't know how I feel right now!" he rubs his hand through his hair "Shit, the whole things a mess!"

Ray sits quiet for a moment, just slowly nodding his head, looking across the tarmac to the helo hanger "So does she know how you feel? I mean does she feel the same way?" He frowns as Jason stares at him   
"Jace. You did talk to her, right? I mean you let her know how you feel?"

"No!" he looks up staring at his number two "Ray, I can't! I just can't. I said too much already! I messed up, and anyway..." he sighs "..I'm not sure she'd listen to me now!"   
  
He takes a breath before standing up, packing some of the stuff in the open bags, loading them on to the helo then he looks at his watch "Come on, we need to get geared up!"

"No! No Jason, you need to go over there and speak to her!"   
He looks around, checking no ones over hearing them "Jace, we're not going into this firestorm with your head elsewhere!"   
He puts his hand on Jason's shoulder "Brother, you need to sort this out, and you need to do it before we leave!"

He shakes his head "No, it's no good, I told you, too much has been said, by both of us"   
He looks to the sky above "Oh God!" then he takes a deep breath.   
The air is warm and it tastes hot and stifling "Anyway, what's the point, I mean what the hell can I offer her in terms of a relationship, Ray?"

"I don't know Jace, but this.. this isn't doing you any good" He takes a deep breath "Look, where we're now going, you need to be on you're A game! You can't do that not if you're thinking about her, and what you should or shouldn't have said. Do you get me man!"   
He frowns "So you need to go back over there and talk to her!"

Jason stares at Ray. He takes a moment "Yeah, yeah you're right, I do need to talk to her" he sighs "But Ray, what if she doesn't feel the same, then what?"

Ray shrugs "Then...then you'll deal with it, brother! But one thing's for sure, you won't know if you don't talk to her!"

Ray looks at his watch "Look, go do this man!" he slaps him hard on the shoulder "I'll get the others, we'll finish getting loaded up." He smiles "Jace....go make her listen!"

Jason nods as he takes a moment before striding across the tarmac landing pad, back to the helo bay.

"Hey!" Clay frowns "Where's Jason going? Is there somethin' wrong?"

Ray shrugs "I hope not, but I hope for us, he sorts his head out!" he smiles at Clay "Come on, let's get loaded up. We haven't got long and looks like Alpha are nearly ready!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Ellis!"

She turns, taking a breath "Hey" she smiles "I was gonna come find you when I get this done!"

"Why? What's going on?" Wes frowns. He looks out of the open helo bay door and he can see the teams loading up the aircraft "Where are they going?"

"Who? You mean the guys? Yeah, ummm.... that's what I needed to talk to you about." She sighs "Look Wes, come out the back here, so we can talk privately!"

They head through to the back-storage room. She puts her hand to her mouth rubbing her face as she stares at him, her eyes suddenly well with tears and she breaths slowly.  
  
"Ellis?" he frowns as he looks her in the face "What is it?"

"Wes, they err mm..." she takes a deep breath composing herself " they think .... they ..." she stalls trying to get her words out "They think they found Lucas's body!"   
  
She sniffs back her tears, her hands are shaking "That's where they're going, to bring him home!"  
Her lip quivers "I err .. I saw the drone photos, and ..." She sniffs again, her nose is running as the big clear tears run down her face. "Oh my god Wes, I think it's him!"   
  
Wes takes a deep breath in "Oh god!" he frowns "You sure?"   
  
She nods "Yeah!"

He then lashes out, thumping hard at one of the filing cabinets "Shit!"

The noise makes her flinch, the bang on the metal drawers forces the tears to stream down her face, and he looks at Ellis, watching her as she cries   
"Ellis, come here!" He wraps his arms around her. Kissing her head, holding her tight.   
  
She wraps her arms around his waist holding him. "Wes..." she stutters her words "I thought they might, you know find him alive. I mean I knew really, deep down, that they wouldn't but... still a little piece of me hoped!"   
She shakes, as she puts her hand to the aching lump on her head to sooth it.

Wes takes a moment gathering his emotions. He's watching her, then he frowns as he notices her holding the side of her head   
"Ellis, what is it?" he stares at her harder, waiting for her to answer "What happened to you?" he notices the red mark on her face and that she's, still, holding her head.

"It's nothing!"

"Nothing?" he continues to frown "Doesn't look like nothing! Ellis, what's happened?" he frowns again "Hey... will you talk to me!"

She puts her hand to her mouth and closes her eyes tight, trying desperately to hold the tears in but she can't, and the emotional, and physical, pain overwhelms her   
"Oh Wes!" She cries, sniffing hard, sucking tears to the back of her throat "I've fucked up so bad!"

"What?" he frowns confused. He was expecting an explanation about the mark on her face, but this, the way she's acting, it sounds like something very different. He knows her too well, and she doesn't sound good. "Hey, hey come on don't cry. Ellis, it's okay, you know you can tell me"  
  
He frowns watching as she sits there shaking her head "I can't!" she sobs more "I can't Wes, because I've been so stupid!"  
  
Now he frowns deeper, the lines on his head that he tries to avoid, are deepening as he watches her "Ellis, you're worrying me now. What the hell did you do?"   
  
He lifts her chin making her look at him. She can hardly focus through the floods of tears "Come on!" he smiles "I'm sure it's nothing we can't fix, right? I mean we've done some stupid shit, how bad can it be?"  
He keeps smiling, trying to reassure her, as she keep shaking her head "Ellis, it can't be that bad. Just tell me what you did!"

She breaths in "Oh Wes, it's all just a mess!" The tears run in streams down her cheeks   
"This.." she puts her hand to her head "... this is nothing!" she points to her face "Just an accident. Clay and Damien they err.. they clashed. I was trying to stop it and, and well Clay caught me, accidentally, it was nothing!"

"Clashed?" he frowns "Clashed about what?"

She hesitates, unsure of how Wes will react "Damien, he err..." she takes a deep breath through her nostrils, leaning her head back against the wall of the store room. Trying to stop herself crying "He has ummm... a video, of me." she can't bear to look at Wes now

"He has what?" he frowns confused "A video? A video of you what?"

She breaths in deep " Of me and ...Ryan, you know!" she shrugs and even though this is Wes she's embarrassed, biting her quivering lip "Oh Jeez Wes! Do I have to spell it out for you!? You know what I'm talking about!"

"What? But I don't understand, how does Damien have it?" Wes is confused and he continues staring at her.

"I don't know" she shrugs "But Wes, what am I going to do?"

"Why do you have to do anything? Is he threatening to expose it?"

"No! But umm...." She takes a moment and lots of deep breaths, composing herself "Ryan, he,he wants me to find out, if its clear on the video, that it's him"

"You spoke him, Sharpe, about it?" He's confused and annoyed. His frown deepens.

She nods "Yeah earlier!" She starts to cry again "But that's not all!" she looks at him through her tear filled eyes "Wes, I did something _really _stupid!"

"Ellis!" he frowns, wondering what else she's going to tell him "What the hell did you do?"   
  
He watches her, then wipes the tears from her cheek with his hand, she pulls away from his touch "Oh my god... Ellis, no!... No please tell me you _did _not do that?!" He sighs "Please tell me you did not sleep with him again!"  
  
She puts her hand to her mouth and sobs into it.

"Shit!" he's angry with her now "Oh my god, _ELLIS!_ How the hell many times have I told you to stay away from him?" He paces around the small room, sighing loudly   
"Jesus Christ!" He slams at the filing cabinets over and over again, before turning and glaring at her "Seriously? Please tell me you didn't!"

"No! No, we didn't go all the way, we just ...we just kissed! It stopped before anything happened, but...he did complicate things"

"Complicate things?" he laughs "Sharpe complicated things! No shit!"  
He sighs, rubbing his head giving her such a look of disapproval and now she won't look at him   
  
"How the hell can things get any more complicated with you two, hmmm? Jeeez! Alright, come on then, give me the whole shabang! Tell me what you did, cos I'm waiting. How did this get more complicated?"

She reluctantly, pulls the ring box out of her pocket and shows it to him.   
  
"What the hell is this?"   
He frowns as he opens it "Christ! What the fuck...?" He looks up staring at her for an explanation "Dear god, please tell me this isn't a..." He stops mid-sentence as she nods "Oh my god, you serious?"  
He lets out an exasperated sigh "Wait! What did you say? Oh god, please Ellis, please tell me you did not say yes?"

She shakes her head "No! No, but he wants me to think about it. He wants me to....to quit and go to London, to be with him!"

"He wants what?" he laughs out loud "You're not serious, right?" He frowns "Ellis please, tell me this is a joke!?!"

She shakes her head again "No, no joke!" she swallows hard, she can see how angry Wes is with her.

"No! No, no! This is not right!" he sighs, running his hand through his hair "So, what the hell does he really want?"

"What?" she frowns confused "No, Wes, it's not like that! He said, he loves me, that he wanted to tell me before, but things weren't right!"

Wes laughs "And you're buying that bullshit? No. No, you know him." he sighs   
"Ellis, all this time and he's never offered you anything more than a quick fuck in his office, and what, now he's declaring undying love? No, he wants something!"

"He couldn't give me anything before, his position, his promotion, this job in London. I mean for god sake Wes he had a wife! and this me and him, you know it can get us both fragged out of here!"  
She laughs but that just causes him to frown at her more. "Oh come on! I mean it's not like we could have just come out about it, is it!"

"Oh Jeez!" he laughs "When will you wake up Ellis? He's sucked you right in again, hasn't he? You know what... I'm done with this; I'm done with listening to you whine about him, watch him hurt you for you to just go running back!"   
He stares her hard in the eyes, she can tell he's annoyed "Well, I've got something to tell you!"   
  
He takes a long deep breath "You know that modelling thing ? The one we filled in for kicks, yeah well they wanna see me!" he laughs "I turned it down a while back, because of you and Lucas but now I guess... I have no reason to stay!"

She frowns at him, looking horrified "What? You're not serious. You'd leave me here? But...Wes, no please, don't do this!"

"What's the point in staying Ellis,I mean Sharpe is all the excitement you'll need now!"   
He can feel himself raging inside, he's hurt that she just won't listen "And what about Jason?"

She looks away embarrassed "What about him?

"Where does he fit in these plans? How does he feel about you getting married?"

"Oh Wes please!" She dries her face "And anyway, Jason leaves in two weeks! So, it's good that it ended I mean where could it have gone anyway!"   
She shrugs, trying to look unbothered "Plus, he err... he said some stuff, accused me of things so..it's best this way. It's better to just be professional now!"

Wes laughs "Yeah right! Cos you can just let him go, just like that?" he sighs "See, I don't' think so!"  
He laughs again "Ellis, you need to think about this! I mean, I've never seen you be the way you have since Jason arrived. For god sake, I thought he made you happy for once, even a little bit contented!"

"Well maybe he did! But, like I said, we can't so..." she shrugs dismissing him "and not forgetting the stuff he said! I mean he made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want to be with me! So that's it, we're done!"

Wes spots Jason walking towards them and laughs "Yeah well... I'm not sure it looks like it's done to me" he nods in Jason's direction

"Shit!!"  
She stuffs the ring box back in her pocket and wipes her face. "Please don't say anything about any of this!"

Wes shakes his head "You're unbelievable, you know that!" he lets out a long sigh "I'm gonna leave you to it!"   
He sneers at her. He's really disappointed but something inside him hurts at being this angry with her "I've got some things I need to take care of!" he sighs softening his tone "Ellis, talk to the guy. Just tell him how you really feel!"

"I can't! Wes, please don't go"! she grinds her teeth as he walks away "Wes!..." she calls him and he turns around to look at her "I'll let you know...about Lucas. As soon as they're back!"   
  
She bites her lip, sucking back her tears. "Fuck! Pheww!!" she takes a breath, she's shaking and she tries to gather herself before she has to face Jason who's now coming storming towards her .

Jason stands in front of her "I'm sorry Ellis, but I need to talk to you! And you need to listen!"

"Go away! I can't do this now right now!" She walks away, towards the back room, but he keeps following   
  
"No! No you're gonna listen to me!"  
  
She stand in the office, picking up her clipboard again "Look Jason, make this quick. I have to get that helo loaded. What is it?"

She stares at him, and him at her. Both watching each other. Their eyes searching deep inside  
"I'm sorry alright." He swallows "I didn't mean what I said. I shouldn't have said it!"

She shrugs "I know, you told me this already!" She sighs "Jason this is going nowhere. I can't change anything" She take a moment watching him "I'm sorry okay! This is my fault, I know! I'm the one that fucked up!"

"No!" he puts his hand to her cheek "No it wasn't you. Look, Clay told me.."  
She frowns as they continue to stare at each other "He told me what Damien did! And I'm sorry! Why didn't you just say something?"

She laughs "What? So you feel sorry for me now? Great! Well at least you know everything about me now! So what does it change Jason?"

"Ellis, please.... it's not like that! I just wish you'd told me that's all"

"Why? So you could do something like Clay did? So you could feel better about _yourself_? Would you feel more macho if you hit him?" she sighs "What does any of that change?" She half halfheartedly sighs  
"I still know what you think about me, deep inside! And I also know, I brought all this on myself. No fun without risk right!"   
She laughs, then takes a deep breath to calm herself "Okay, alright, apology accepted! So, is there anything else? Only I have to get on!"

He puts his hand to her cheek, wiping the big tear that rolls down it "No, I umm... I guess not. I just... I just needed to say, to say I was sorry!"

"Okay, well you've done it, so.. if you don't mind I need to get on! And any way you've got a mission to go on!" she forcibly smiles at him.

He nods "You know, I'll bring him back. I just want you to know that. We'll bring him back for you, for his family"

She nods "Yeah... yeah I know!" She dries her face with her hand "Right, well no doubt I'll see you when you get back!"   
  
She stares him as he watches her "Yep!" he nods "I guess you will!"

She smiles, there's an awkward tension between them and they can both feel it   
"Yeah, well you better go, they'll be waiting!" she nods towards the helos outside the office door " Don't want them leaving without you!" she laughs watching him

"Ellis..."

"Jason, just go!"

He nods and opens the office door and starts to head out. Then he turns back and without a another word he takes her head in his hands and he kisses her.   
  
His lips encase hers, gently but firmly kissing her and he doesn't let her go. Then she drops her clip board, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, kissing him back, it's like she can't get enough of him. They can't get enough of each other. he pushes her back against the wall.   
Still holding her head in both his hands he looks her in the eyes "Ellis, I...."

"No!" she cries out stopping his words "No!" she pushes him back "Don't say it!"

"But ..." he kisses her again

"No, see this is why this can't happen!" she sighs out loud "You're leaving Jason!"   
Her heart hurts and there's a pain in her chest "Please, just go! Just don't do this to me!"

"But I have to... I have to tell you!"  
He kisses her again and again but then as quick as it started it stops. Stopped by Ray coughing in the door way   
"Jace, Brother! We need to go! Helo's ready and waiting. Questions are getting asked about your whereabouts!""

"Okay" he nods "Now coming Ray!"   
  
Ellis's face is wet from her tears, and she's biting her lip, desperately trying to control herself as she watches them turn to leave.   
But Jason turns back and looks at her"Ellis, please..... just say we'll talk when I get back? Just that...just that we'll talk!"

She nods "Okay! Yeah" she smiles "We'll talk!"

He smiles back "Okay! Well I better go, after all I do have a job to do!"

She nods as he walks away but before he gets to the hanger doorway she chases after him, calling out to him "Jason!!"   
She calls across the large open space, staring at him "Please.... Just be careful!"

He nods, then turning back he runs back towards her and leans in and kisses her again. She leans her forehead on his chest taking in his scent.   
Running her hands over his arms "Go!" she smiles "I'll see you when you get back, alright?"  
  
He kisses her again

"Come on Brother!" Ray pulls him away "We need to go!" Jason's now smiling, walking backwards so he can watch the last few moments of her as Ray leads them back to the waiting helo.

"Oh shit!"  
She crouches down, a sudden rush of emotional pain as he disappears from her sight. She holds her stomach then while she sits there she takes the ring box from her pocket.   
  
Opening the box she studies the precious contents before letting out a deep sigh. Her mind is mulling everything over, considering all her options and letting them play out in her head about what he wants. And as she considers everything she feels much calmer.

Then she strides away across the tarmac as the helos lift off.

Jason leans back against the back of the helo.   
He can see her walking cross the base and he smiles. He's somewhat more contented, now that he's finally going to get a chance to get everything off his chest,


	37. I can fix this.

Mandy looks up from her laptop as Ellis enters the room "Hey!" she smiles "You busy?"

"Oh hey! Yeah sorry, I didn't hear you come in!" Mandy stands up stretching her aching back. She's been leaned over the desk, staring at her computer for far too long, without a break.

"Where is everyone?" Ellis frowns as she looks around at the unusually empty command room.

"Um .." Mandy also frowns, she too looks around. She's been so busy focused on the intel that she hadn't noticed the room was empty "You know, I don't know!"  
  
She frowns again while she thinks "Actually um.. now I think, Sharpe called Blackburn for a meeting, I think they might in his office " she looks at her watch "but I have to say, that was a while ago, guess they must still there!"

"Oh, he did?" Ellis frowns concerned "Did he say what that was about?"

Mandy shrugs. "I have no idea. Could be anything, but I'd imagine it's something about this mission. You know with the way this command structure has been a little outta whack, and Sharpe taking such a hands on approach, I get the impression there's some rankle in the works that needs to be ironed out!"   
She laughs "And not being funny, you can see how Jason keeps pushing his buttons, still I guess they'll work it out!"  
She smiles looking at Ellis but that soon changes to a frown when she notices the concerned expression on her face "Ellis, are you alright?"

"Um yeah..." Ellis smiles her thoughts coming back to the room "Yeah, sorry miles away. Yeah I'm fine!"

Mandy's not convinced "Okay spill, what's going on?" she frowns as she continues to stare at her "There's something bothering you Ellis, I can see it!"

"No! No, nothing" she looks at Mandy, trying to give her the most convincing smile she can "Really Mandy, I'm fine!"

She sighs as Mandy still stares at her, interrogating her with her eyes  
"Oh, I don't know " she shrugs "maybe it's just...just the whole Lucas thing. It's making me feel a bit on edge with the waiting...you know, to see if it's really him!" she sighs "I'll just be glad when they all get back now"

Mandy nods, but before she can reply they're both interrupted, as the office door opens, and Blackburn walks back in. The look on his face is stressed and tinged with anger, and he gives a long-annoyed stare at Ellis.   
  


_Shit!_ She frowns in response and then looks at Mandy. She also notices the change in Blackburn's mood, and the extra tension between him and Ellis.

"Have you not got anything constructive to do, Private Baxter?" He looks at her, giving her a long, deep stare from over the top of the screen on his laptop while he taps in his password on the keyboard.

"Um.. yes Sir! I need to um... log these manifests and then check the QRF is in place"

"Well, don't you think it's best if you get on with it, rather than standing around like some office decoration!"

Ellis swallows hard, "Yes sir!" she replies as she looks down at her own computer. She knows what he's annoyed about and she feels slightly embarrassed by his comment and she can guess what the meeting with Sharpe was about.

Mandy stares at Ellis, who's avoiding her gaze, and as she looks around at Blackburn, she's wondering _What's his problem?  
_"Um...I'm going to get some coffee. Looks like it could be a long day" Mandy smiles trying to break the deadlocked tension she can feel between them "Eric, you want one? How about you Ellis, can I get you something?"

"Um... yeah sure, that be great!" Ellis nods "I'll have a black coffee"

Eric shuffles his papers on the desk "I'm good, but thanks!" He starts tapping again on his computer and doesn't look up but addresses another sarcastic comment to Ellis "I'd have thought you'd have had enough of _coffee _for today?"

He glances up and she quickly ignores him so that he doesn't catch her eye and swallowing again, she takes another deep breath, making it a definite point to ignore his comment. Continuing to get on with her work on the laptop.

Mandy frowns _What the hell is going on here? Those comments are really not like Eric!  
_She knows something has happened, but not what it is.

As the door to the office closes behind her, it leaves the room in silence. And now being alone with Blackburn makes Ellis feel awkward.   
There's a vibe of electric like tension, prickling between them, and Ellis feels she needs to address the elephant in the room, because it's more and more apparent that he's annoyed with her.   
  
She takes a long, deep breath "Commander Blackburn, Sir, I just wanted to say ..." she takes another deep breath, biting her lip "I just wanted to say, about earlier. About what you thought you might have seen. That it wasn't what you thought, that it, it was....."

He looks up staring at her and he laughs, stopping her mid flow, before she continues "Ellis, just stop, before you make a fool of yourself by saying something we both know isn't true!"

Ellis frowns "Sir, I was just gonna say that..... that it really wasn't what you thought. It was just spilled coffee!" she swallows wondering if the look on her face is giving her away.

He laughs again louder this time "Right! So, it's not what I thought? But you don't know what I thought it was, right?"  
He checks around the room making sure its empty as he moves close "Ellis, do you know where I've just been?

"No sir" she lies  
  
"No sir!" he breaths out, folding his arms as he stares at her "I've just been getting a dressing down from Group Captain Sharpe, ironically, about the lax behaviour of BRAVO team, and about Clay fighting again! Do you know anything about _why_ Clay was fighting?"   
He waits for an answer, but it doesn't come "This team is under my command, and their behaviour, and I understand that it reflects on me. But do you understand that?"

"Yes Sir!" she frowns trying to avoid the hard stare he's giving her.

"However.." he laughs "I would seem, that any formal charges against Clay, are not going to be pursued now" he laughs again shaking his head "Something tells me that, that has something to do with me interrupting you early. What do you think?"

He pauses watching her, letting out a deep breath "Look, I don't give a damn about what Group Captain Sharpe gets up to with you, or anyone else for that matter, because as we both know I'm not gonna risk the future of BRAVO, or my career, making that kind of accusation, and because we both know I wouldn't get anywhere! But for god sake, don't make out like I don't know what was going on!"  
He points at her, a deep-set frown on his head "I will tell you this, if this comes back on Bravo in anyway... and I mean anyway, then I will bring the house down on top of you both. Do I make myself clear?"

She nods watching him "Yes Sir"

"Look..." he sighs letting his anger go "I don't know what influence you have with him, but make sure it's clear what I said because I will be watching!"

She swallows hard, embarrassingly nodding but also sighing with relief that Blackburn's not taking it further "Yeah, yeah I understand, Sir!"

"Oh, and Ellis, while we're on this subject, I don't know what has or hasn't, gone on with you and Petty Officer Spenser, but it's over. Am I making myself clear on that? I won't have him dragged into the firing line for some game you might be playing. Because I can assure you, if Jason finds out what's gone on, that Clay's the one taking the fall, he won't be so forgiving!"

She laughs in relief, not meaning to, putting her hand to her lips as she realises her mistake.

"You find that funny?" he frowns

"Um... no Sir. Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, but it's just, that there is nothing, I swear nothing, going on with me and Clay"

Now it's Blackburn's turn to laugh, scoffing at her comment "Yeah well forgive me if I don't believe a word you say!"

She shakes her head, stifling another nervous laugh "Fine! No Sir you're right, I deserved that. But I am telling you...."

They both immediately stop talking as they're interrupted by the door opening. They look around at the doorway, as both Mandy, Sharpe, and some of the British liaison team, enter the room.

"Lieutenant commander!" Sharpe acknowledges Blackburn, whilst frowning. Curious as to what's going on between the two of them.

"Sir!" Eric stands to attention

"Relax Commander. How far off before they infill?" Sharpe looks round at Ellis and frowns, he can see from her face and the tension in the atmosphere that something was definitely going on between her and Blackburn "Is everything alright in here?"

Eric looks at Ellis "Everything is just fine, Sir!"

Ellis nods "Yeah no problems" she looks at Eric then back at Sharpe

"Good! Then where are we?"

"They're ten mics to infill. Sir, Helo is fifteen clicks out!"

"Do we know yet what kind of welcome they're expecting? I take it we've got the ISR on screen?"

"Yes, sir I have it here!" Mandy takes Sharpe towards her laptop. Eric continues to engage in conversation with him about the mission. Everything is professional and respectful, but everyone also knows and feels the underlying tension that's filling the room.

"Okay, so give me a full sit rep?"

Mandy points to some things on her screen and Sharpe frowns as he looks at what she's showing him "Christ! It looks like they're landing into a fire storm right there! We got back up on standby?"

"Yes sir!"

"Alright then, so show me where are the bodies located?"

"They're here" Blackburn points to the map on the screen "About two clicks west of the infill zone."

Ellis looks up, she's listening to their conversation, taking deep breaths to keep herself calm, her heart beating faster as she watches Eric showing Sharpe the map and location.   
She also notices Sharpe's not giving his full attention to Eric, as he keeps looking up from the screen, staring directly as her.   
  
His continual glare makes her feel even more anxious and uncomfortable and she gathers some papers up off the desk  
"Um... if you'll just excuse me, only I just have to check some things over at the stores, and then chase up the QRF!"

Eric nods to acknowledge her and with that permission she leaves the room.

Once outside, she takes a deep breath, calming herself. Running her hand over the tight feeling she has in her chest. As she drops her hand down by her side it passes over the pocket of her combats where she can feel the hard, solid mass of the ring box.   
She takes another deep breath then heads off, striding in the direction of the stores.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Oh shit, now what?" Wes looks up from his clipboard as she enters the room "Go away Ellis!"

Wes takes the clipboard and slamming it down hard on the desk in front him "I don't wanna speak to you right now!"

"Wes please..." she frowns "I don't have long. The guys are about to infill, I just need to talk to you about something!"

"Talk to me? Oh, so now you wanna talk to me? About what? About how stupid you are?"

She frowns at his comment and the mood he's in "Wes please, I'm begging you don't be like this with me! Wes, come on, just listen."  
  
She grabs at his arm, pulling him round to look at her. He still ignores her pulling his arm from her grasp "I told you just go away, I'm not interested!" he turns his back on her, continuing checking things on his list.

"For god sake Wes!" She bites her lip thinking about what to say "I need to know, are you still set on leaving? I mean on taking this modelling assignment."

"Is that what you're here for?" he laughs "You worried that I'm about to leave you? What because you'll be on your own? You'll have to deal with the shit you create by yourself!"

"No of course not. Wes how the hell can you say stuff like that. Look, you know I can't be more pleased for you, getting out of this shit hole."   
She frowns frustrated with him "For God sake's Wes look at me! Of course, I don't want you to go, but if you've made up your mind then ... "

"Well you don't need to worry too soon, because it appears, that I can't leave!"   
He shakes his head. "Seems I can't get out of my contract for another six months! Who knew!""

"What?" she frowns "Why the hell not?"

He shrugs " Well it seems with Command all fucked up at the moment. I gotta go through your _fiancé _to get it approved and we both know he's not gonna let me leave if I want to!" he laughs "Even though I thought he wanted rid of me!"

Ellis shakes her head "What? Why is he even involved in this?"

Wes laughs "Because he can be, because he's a control freak... and an asshole!"

"Look I can fix this, if you still wanna leave? But you have to trust me. I've got a plan, it could get both of us out of here. But you will really have to trust me!"

He laughs taking out his phone "What, cos you trust Sharpe, you think you'll be able to get him to do what you want? He lies to you Ellis, but you can't see it!"

"What does that mean?" she frowns

"Let me show you something!" he flicks through photos on his cell screen then hands her the phone   
  
"What are these?"

"Pictures! From the military charity awards, in Paris!"

She frowns "And why do I want to see them, right now? Sorry, what have these got to do with anything!"

"Keep going, you'll see!"

She suddenly pauses, stopping at one particular photo on Wes' phone. A picture of Ryan   
"Oh yeah, I know he was there" She frowns looking up at Wes "This is what they went to Paris for, last month. They always send a high-ranking officer for PR!"   
She laughs "I think he charms them with his accent, and stupid stories" She smiles looking at the photo, noticing how good looking he is in it. She scrolls some more "So what? Wes, you know officers do this stuff... it's part of his job, he probably went to suck up for his promotion he wants!"

Wes keeps smiling "Keep looking, I think you'll be more interested in the next one!"

She stops at the next photo on the screen. It shows another military couple standing with Ryan, but it's it not them that keeps her interest it's the woman whose waist he has his arm around, that grabs her attention

Wes smiles "Oh! Now you see it?"   
  
He can see from the look on her face and she's not happy "Son of a bitch!" she looks up looking at Wes "I don't understand?"

"You don't understand?" he laughs "What don't you understand? Oh, that he took his _wife_ to Paris, or that he lied to you? That his wife hasn't actually left him, and before you make some excuse for him, I did some checking. I don't think she looks very _Ex_ in that picture, do you?"

Ellis shrugs she's hurt inside, but she won't let Wes know that "It was probably just for show. Like I said it's about how he appears for his promotion, and anyway, they were probably both invited. Melissa does a lot of military charity stuff. You know how she always liked to look good ...Saint Melissa!"

"Ellis stop!" Wes shakes his head "You're making a fool of yourself saying that and you know it. Oh, I give up with you!" he stares at her "Did you give that ring back yet?"

She closes her eyes, biting her lip, ignoring him, subtly she puts her hand over the box in her pocket, trying to conceal it.

It's not gone unnoticed by Wes and he confronts her again "I said did you give it back? Did ...you...give the ring back?" He keeps staring at her and she still doesn't answer him.  
He shakes his head then grabbing hold of her he puts his hand to her legs, feeling her pockets till he finds it "What the fuck is this?"

He struggles with her until he pulls the box out of her pocket holding it in front of her "For god sake, please don't tell me you're even thinking about going through with this?"

Still shaking his head, he makes his disappointment with her clear. He sighs, throwing the ring box back at her. " You know what? I'm done with you Ellis. I can't be a part of letting you do that, so if that's what you want... then you're on your own!"

"Wes, please!" she frowns her eyes appealing to him to listen "Please just trust me. Wes!" she sighs frustrated "Wes! Hey! Look at me, I'm going to fix this. I just...I just need to make sure that Jason's going to be okay first."   
She sighs again "Because If I do what I'm planning, then the first thing Ryan will do is go after him. He'll end his career, Wes. You know that as well as I do! And I can't let that happen!"   
  
They stand just staring at each other now "Wes, this is my fault and I need to fix it."

"Fix it? What by agreeing to marry that asshole. What planet are you on?"

Wes looks at her he can see how upset she is, and he takes a breath, then he releases all his pent-up anger by swiping everything off the desk in front of him. Throwing everything on to the floor. "Arrghhh!" he rubs his head, calming himself "Fuck!!" he yells at the top of his voice, then he lets out a long deep sigh as he looks at her "How the hell did you get in this mess, Ellis?"

She shakes her "Look, let's just get Lucas back, alright. Then I'll sort it. I'll sort all of it, I promise. Just don't turn that job down"  
  
He nods, he's calmer now and seeing the look on her face he pulls her towards him, before wrapping his arms around her tight, and kissing the top of her head. "You're right, we need to fix this, and you're right about Jason too. Look, just do what you need to do. You know I'll be here for you!"

She looks up smiling at him, she holds his chin and kisses him "Wes, it's gonna be fine. I promise"

He wraps his arms around tighter and kisses her back. Then the moment is disturbed by the bleeping of her phone in her back pocket.  
"Shit!" she looks at the message "Look, I gotta go. I'm wanted back in the command office. I'll let you know when they're back with Lucas!" she kisses him one more time placing her hand on his cheek

Wes nods, smiling. "Just go!"

As she gets to the door to leave he calls her "Ellis .." she turn's frowning "What about you? Are you gonna be alright?"

"Don't worry about me! It's all gonna be fine!" she smiles as he frowns unconvinced by the look on her face.

Stepping towards her he brushes her hair back from her face, looking her full in the eyes " Ellis, just be careful, you know what an ass he can be!"

She opens the door "Oh and Wes... send me that picture. The one of him and Melissa!"

"What? What do you want that for?" he frowns at her

"Just send me it. I'll speak to you later"

Wes watches her leave shaking his head, running his hand through his hair confused. "I hope you know what you're doing Ellis!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She hurries back to the command room; her phone having been paged again. This time when she opens the door she finds the room now filled with people scurrying around.

"Hey, what's going on?" she looks at Mandy who has a deep frown set in while she studies her laptop

"They've been pinned down in the valley, that we thought would be a problem. Clay and Harry are trying to give them cover but... we knew they picked that region for the difficult terrain. The other problem we have is the comms aren't working properly, so we're only getting intermittent sitreps!"

"Oh shit!" Ellis feels a sudden wave of panic "Everyone's alright though? I mean they checked in okay?"

"They were at the last check-in, but like I say we haven't heard from them in a while now1

  
Blackburn interrupts before they can continue " You need to get that QRF on standby to extract ASAP!"

She nods "Yeah of course, I'm on it now!"

"BRAVO one, this is havoc do you copy?" Blackburn pauses again "Alpha one comms check? Come in." He's shaking his head in frustration at receiving no reply back.   
  
He looks at his watch "That's 10 mics with no updated sit rep" he sighs louder this time. "Time to wake the cake eaters up!" he looks over at one of the junior ranks "Can you page the Group Captain; he wants to be kept up to date on the situation."

Ellis looks up from her computer. A wave of panic descends on her. Her eyes gaze round the room watching the busy people, phones ringing and tapping of computers.   
She can feel a surge of dread in the atmosphere, but she continues with her task, plotting various extract points for QRF.

She takes a breath as the door opens and Sharpe enters the room. She watches him chat with Blackburn, him pointing at her.  
Then an awkwardness takes hold, he's standing behind her, looking over her shoulder at the computer screen.   
He can feel the tension she's giving off "Ellis are you alright?" he asks concerned

"Yeah sure!" she frowns "Why wouldn't I be?".

"I don't know you seem a little tense. Is the QRF in place?"

She nods "Yes Sir. They're just awaiting your command, to lauch."

Now she feels even more awkward, and she looks up to find Blackburn watching them, his eyes fixed intently on their every move.   
She knows Ryan can see him as well, but instead of putting distance between them he doubles down, and she can feel him pressing himself against the back of her chair, continuing to lean over her shoulder to tap on her keyboard.

"Ryan stop!" she whispers under her breath, whilst continually checking to see if Eric is still watching them.

Sharpe's loving how awkward it's making her feel, and he carries on, shouting his orders to the rest of the room from over her shoulder. For him it's exciting, touching her in public, in full view of the room with no one able to say anything.

She looks up again and Blackburn's still staring, while he tries to raise the teams on the comms "Shit!" she rubs her head, she feels so uncomfortable.

Eventually Sharpe gives up his game and stands up to address the room "Alright, we need to send an extraction team in there now. We can't wait any longer or we're going to lose them all"

Ellis feels sick, her heart beating so fast, worrying that Bravo and Alpha might not come back.

Then the room all look up as Ray's voice comes over the radio "HAVOC this is BRAVO two do you copy?"

"BRAVO two this is HAVOC copy! Two, do you have a sit rep for us, copy?"

"HAVOC we have heavy ongoing enemy fire. We're taking cover. Alpha team have been hit, Bravo one and six...." The radio crackles again and Ray's voice breaks up until it cuts off

The room goes silent while everyone waits to see if it reconnects. Ellis runs her hands through her hair, the nerves on edge as she tries to keep herself calm. She can feel her hands shaking as she sends through the extract information the QRF commander.

She catches eye contact with Ryan and looks away, but he continues to stare at her, and she can feel it, making her feel even more awkward.

"Shit!" Eric drops the comms phone down "Ellis, see what friendlies we got in that area. We need to get a drone up! We're sitting in the dark and we need some eyes on the situation!"


	38. You did the right thing.

"According to plan, QRF should be just the other side of that ridge"   
Jason looks at his watch and wipes the sweat and dust from his forehead. "Ray, Sonny, we need to get these bodies up top there, so get ready to go. Clay you take Alpha four, and give us over watch" he sighs "Alright we ready?"

"Hey, just hold on! Seriously? " Harry frowns looking at Clay and Jason "No! Now you just wait! We gotta go back! You're not seriously gonna leave them?"  
Harry's in disbelief as he frowns at Jason, pulling at his arm for attention "Hey, did you hear me? We need to go back for Damien and Henry. We can't just leave them there!"

Jason looks at the ridge where they need to get to "Look, Harry I know what you're sayin' but it's gonna take fifteen mics to walk out of here with these two bodies, let alone get up to that ridge for exfill. We miss that window, then we're gonna be stuck here in the dark. We can't afford to lose any more time."   
He frowns at Harry "Look, we'll call it in, and they'll send someone out to them. But we, we need to go now!"

"No! No, no! With all due respect, Master Chief, this is my team we're talking about, I'm not gonna just leave them!"   
He glares at Jason who seems set firm in his decision "Oh right! So, you'd leave your guys, yeah that's what you're saying? To hell, you would!"

Clay looks at Jason as Ray joins them with Sonny "Hey, what's going on?"

"We need to go back!" Harry frowns, appealing to Ray "We need to back and get Damien and Henry!"

"Jace..." Ray frowns "I know it's your call, but brother, he's right!"

Jason shakes his head looking back up at the ridge "No, I'm sorry but we need to go! Like I said we've got a small exfil window."   
He watches the anger grow on Harry's face and he tries to reassure him "Look, we don't even know if they're still alive. Hell, we barely got out alive. I'm not risking everyone in that situation without some back up! So, we are getting out of here"  
  
"Jace brother, come on you can't be serious? Harry's right we have to go back!"  
  
"Ray, you know as well as I do, we can't miss that extraction window. We get trapped here in the dark, running low on ammo, we're gonna lose everyone! So, pack it up and let's get out of here!"

Clay bites his lip looking at Ray who's shaking his head.   
  
Harry's laughing in disgust at Jason's decision "You arsehole!" he shakes his head "This is personal isn't it? This is about her, because you're fuckin' her isn't it?"   
He continues shaking his head in disbelief, he's fuming with anger "I tell you, that bitch is the one should be out there!"

"What the hell did you just say?" Jason looks at him frowning stepping forward towards him.  
  
Harry refuses to back down, and now, he's up in Jason's face, inches away threatening him.   
"I said, this is you being personal! You won't go back for Damien, because of Baxter!" He gives another disgusted laugh "You know Damien's right about you, you are an arse! But then you know that!"  
Harry takes a moment rubbing his head, trying to think what to do. He lets out a long sigh as he tries to appeal to Jason a different way "Look, I know what he did alright! So, I get it. You're pissed with him" he shakes his head "And I agree he shouldn't have done what he did, it wasn't right! But this, leaving them, this isn't right either!"

Jason grabs hold of him "Let me tell you something. This...this is not because of Ellis! This is about getting the rest of us, your team and mine, out of here in one piece. I am the one who makes that call, not you! So, get used to it!"

"Bollocks!" Harry sighs spitting at Jason "Jesus, she's really turned your fuckin' head, hasn't she"  
He laughs again "You know the sad thing? It's that she doesn't give a fuck about you; you do know that, right? No more than she did about Damien, or lets be honest, any of the other guys I bet she's fucked on that base. Her game is the same as before, it's about her keeping Sharpe's attention, making him jealous." he laughs "She loves the attention, they both do! I guess it keeps it exciting"

Jason throws his helmet to the ground and charging forward he pushes hard into Harry's chest. The blow is enough to knock the wind from Harry's lungs. He coughs but stands firm as Jason butts him again, this time knocking him backwards. "What the hell do you know about anything? Hmm! What gives you the right to comment on her. You don't know her. You don't know anything, only what that asshole told you!"

"Fuck you Hayes!" Harry shoves him back "We all know what, and who, she's been doing! Hell..." he laughs out loud "we've all seen that video. She's a slapper, she's right up for it!"   
  
He laughs at Jason who's fit to burst with anger "What?"  
  
"Oh!" Harry laughs "What, you think you're different. Well you're not! You know if we don't go back for them, then as soon as we land... I'm reporting this, I'm reporting you! Oh, and if you think you'll talk your way out of it , you won't! Sharpe will take pleasure in taking my report seriously!" he sighs again "You'll be out of there like that!"   
  
Harry snaps his fingers in Jason's face, and the anger he was holding in, can't be contained and boils over as he shoves Harry with all his force now, knocking him to the ground "You shut your mouth! You're not gonna do anything!"  
  
Harry gets up from the dirt and puffing his chest out, he stands firm smirking at Jason, knowing he's touched a raw nerve about Ellis. Then before Jason has chance to calm the situation, Harry snaps, pushing back against his chest with the full force of his weight.   
Then as if in slow motion, he unleashes a blow to Jason's chin. The whole thing between them blows up at this point. Starting as a scuffle, turning quickly into a full fight, with punches in every direction as tempers flare and they unleash on each other.  
  
"Hey, hey, _HEY!_" Ray and Sonny step in, struggling, but breaking them a part. "Jesus, Jason! Take it easy guys, this is no way to behave!" Ray shakes his head "Come on Jason man, this is not you!"

Harry rubs at his chin and he lets out a long sigh "Fine!" he looks at the rest of Alpha "Look" he catches his breath "Tell you what, you take BRAVO, go to the exfil point! But we're going back! We're not leaving them out there. They're our team, and we're going back for them!"   
  
"Yeah Harry's right, we're not leaving them there!" the rest of Alpha nod in agreement

Jason looks at his watch, then picking up his helmet from the ground, he thinks about the situation, about what's best to do "You know, I'm in command here! You don't make the decisions, I do!" he pokes his finger into Harry's chest.

"Hey, Jason what did I just say!" Ray shakes his head breaking them apart again "C'mon Jace, think about this man! They're right, you know that! If it was one of us there, you'd go back!"   
Ray keeps staring at Jason then back at Sonny "Come on you know I'm right man! We need to go back!"

Clay's standing quietly thinking, he has the same thoughts as Ray. Sure, he knows Jason's thinking, that Damien deserves it, that this is karma for what he did to Ellis, but Clay also knows this is wrong. He takes a breath "Jace, you gotta listen, Ray's right, we have to go back. We can't just leave them!"

"What the hell?" Jason frowns, he's frustrated, and he looks at him, mad at the world because he knows they're all right, but he just doesn't want to back down.

"Come on man, whatever went on, it's between Ellis and him to sort out. This...leaving them there, this is not us. That's not you! We don't do this. We don't leave a man behind!"

Jason runs his gloved hand through his hair and lets out a long sigh as he looks at Clay and Harry, then at his watch again "Alright, alright!" he sighs finally backing down "We go back!" He lets out another long sigh letting his frustration go.   
  
Harry smiles with relief. Nodding his head at Clay "Thank you!"

Jason nods acknowledging him, as the tension in his face fades "Okay, so this is the plan. Ray, you take Brock, Sonny and the rest of Alpha. You head to the exfil point with the bodies. Clay, Trent, Harry get your gear, you're with me. We're going after Damien and Henry!"

"Sure, thing boss!" Clay smiles, he's relieved. It didn't sit right with him for them to just walk away.

As they all get their gear loaded back up and make plans to head to exfil, Ray stops Jason, holding him back "Jace, that was the right call brother, you know it!"

"Was it Ray!" He laughs "Then why do I feel disloyal in some way? Like I didn't stick up for her. That somehow I feel like he deserves to die out there, for what he did?"

"I know man, but trust me, you know this is the right thing. What happened between them ,is not your problem to play god with! Ellis will deal with it her own way. Come on man, even she wouldn't want this. You need to trust her to handle it!"

Jason nods patting Ray on the shoulder "Come on, we need to get moving before we lose the light!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Ellis sits back in her chair as they listen to the crackling empty sounds from the comms radio. Blackburn's shrugging his shoulders. He's frustrated, and he looks at Mandy for help, but she can't offer him anything right now. He turns looking at the junior sitting beside him  
"Ensign, keep trying to raise them!"

"Yes sir!"

Ellis's heart is beating so fast now "Anything?" she frowns

Mandy shakes her head "No nothing yet!"

"Shit!" Ellis can feel the waves of panic rising and crashing inside her. Her emotions are completely on edge, as are everyone else's in the room. She's never been faced with this before, sitting here waiting on to hear about someone she cares deeply for. It's not a position she wants to be in. She feels stifled and her hands are shaking with nerves.

"Ellis are you alright?" Mandy frowns watching her, she can see and feel the tension coming from her direction.

"Yeah, yeah, just um ... you know" she smiles "I'll just be glad when we hear something, that's all but I'm fine, honestly!" she smiles again trying to reassure Mandy but she's unconvincing.

"Baxter!" Blackburn calls out "Do you want to see if you can find another drone to launch out there? See if we can get some sort of intel back online"

"Yeah Sir!" she brings up the maps on her computer "Sir, there's a marine training exercise going on about two clicks west of there. They should have a practice drone within in range"

"Just get it up! I don't care, anything you can. At the moment we're sitting here blind!"  
  


Suddenly all the scurrying around in the office stops as they hear the sounds crackle over the radio mic "HAVOC this is BRAVO two. Do you copy?"

Blackburn hurries and picks up the comms phone "BRAVO two, this his HAVOC. Copy! Go ahead. BRAVO two do you have a sit rep?"

"HAVOC, we need a medivac standing by. We have casualties"

Blackburn looks up and around the room he clicks his fingers at Ellis "Get a medivac up in the air. ASAP! And get me an ETA!"

"On it, Sir!" She doesn't have time for nerves now, her training kicks in and even if she feels apprehensive, thinking only about Jason_, _hoping that it's not him that's been hurt.   
She does what she can to hide her fears as she pages the cell phones of the medivac helo pilots. Rubbing her head anxiously she looks over at Mandy "Do we know who's injured yet?"

Mandy shakes her head "No, no not had word on that yet!"

**o-o-o—o-o-o-o-o**

Ellis sits on the crates nervously waiting for the medivac helo to come into land. She runs her nails on her teeth, tapping them anxiously.

"You know that's a bad habit of yours"   
  
She smiles looking around as Wes comes and stands behind her "Hey, I known, I can't help it!"

"Are they here yet?"

She shakes her head slowly "That's the Medivac now landing"

"So, have you heard how Damien and Henry are?"

She nods "All I heard was that Damien took a couple of sniper rounds to his leg and shoulder" she sighs "Blackburn seemed to think it's a career ender!" she shrugs "Who knows though, those guys are tough!"

"And Jason?"

"Um... I think, he's okay, well from what I heard. I think he's got a few scrapes, but I don't think it's anything serious. Well I hope not!"

Wes leans his arms over the top of her shoulders pulling her close "Hey, come on. Be positive, he's alive, so try not to worry"

She nods as the helo touches down. When the dust settles they can see the stretchers with Damien and Henry being unloaded. One flanked by Trent holding a drip. They get wheeled out to the waiting ambulance.   
Jason and Clay jump off as the helo wheels touch down. Ellis lets out a long sigh of relief as she sees Jason walking away with the waiting medical staff.

Wes kisses her neck. He can feel the long sigh of tension release as they hear another whump of rotor blades and another helo comes into land.

She closes her eyes swallowing hard and Wes who's still stood behind her closes his eyes too as they side of the helo is opened up revealing the flag draped coffins.   
  
They're finally slowly unloaded and carried to the awaiting transport vehicles. "Oh God!" she takes a massive deep breath in, holding it as the emotional pain begins to build inside and she starts to shake with nerves.  
She continues to watch the scene in front of her, making out the tall dark-haired figure of Ryan talking to the medical staff and pilots.   
Then he turns, looking in her and Wes's direction, as he starts to walk towards them.   
  
It's then that the sudden bolt of pain hits her. Stabbing into her chest like a knife "No! Oh no!" she starts shaking her head as she stands up from where she was sitting on the crates.   
  
Wes moves to stand himself beside her "Oh Shit!" He can see what she's looking at, Sharpe, and he's heading in their direction. He lets out a long sigh.   
  
He too is finding it difficult to hold his emotions and Ellis grips at his hand tight. She wipes the large watery tears from her cheek as they roll from her eyes and as Ryan gets closer she starts to back away putting her hands to her ears "No, no! No, Ryan, I don't want to hear it!"

Sharpe is in front of them now, "Ellis... Wes, I-I .... "

"No, no don't say it!" the tears start to rapidly roll down her face "Please no!" she screws up her face in pain.

Wes looks Sharpe direct in the face "It's him, isn't it?" He swallows hard trying to contain his emotions.

Sharpe nods "I'm so sorry!" he puts his hand on Ellis's shoulder "Ellis... "

"No!" she pulls away, her body is rocking back and forward trying to process the information "Don't touch me!"   
She can't cope with the overwhelming feeling of hurt and grief that hits her and she doubles in half from the pain as it physically feels like a punch in the gut.   
  
She leans against Wes who desperately clings to her. A tear rolling down his cheek too "Fuck!" He thought he'd got his head round the idea of this being the truth ever since he knew Lucas was missing, but now, faced with the reality, it hurts more than he ever imagined it would.

"Oh God!" Ellis puts both hands to her face, bereft and unable to control her sobs now "I need to see him!"

Sharpe bites his lip, its hard watching her hurt so much and not being able to comfort her "They're um...they're taking the coffins to the helo hanger. You can go over there!"

She nods "Can I see him?"

"No. No, it's best if you don't. It's not pleasant by all accounts. They did a lot of damage"

"Oh god!" his words make her feel sick "What the hell did they do to him?"

"Ellis don't, just.. don't, alright! Don't put yourself through that!"

Wes looks away, he's trying to get a grip on his tears, taking deep breathes as he steadies himself. He pulls Ellis towards him, holding her into his chest, as she sobs uncontrollably.

"I can't do this!" she continues to wail.

"Come on pull it together. Ellis, c'mon, let's go be with him! Alright? Come on we'll go together!"

Sharpe nods, exchanging glances with Wes, "I have some things to finish up and de brief with the teams but ... but you take your time. Ellis if you need me then....well you know where I am!"

She shakes her head, brushing him off as Wes glares him, "She won't be needing you! That's the last thing she needs!" he scowls

Sharpe is tempted to reply but he just laughs and shakes his head " Well she knows where I am, Wes!" he smiles "No doubt I will catch you later!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Hey! You okay?" Ray nudges Jason who's lost in his thoughts, stood in the corridor doorway.

He's looking across the hanger bay, staring at the two flag covered coffins as they lay in their resting place. "Yeah I'm good!" he rubs the tiredness from his face as he smiles at Ray.   
  
Clay and Sonny arrive back from the showers and stand beside them "Everything alright boss? Anyone heard how the guys from Alpha are?"

Jason nods "Yeah, they doing good. Damien took a couple of rounds to his leg and shoulder, they're operating now. Should know in a couple of hours, how he's doing, he lost a lot of blood. Blackburn said it doesn't look like he's coming back from it! But still.. at least he's alive, I guess! Henry took couple of nicks to his side and arm; he should be okay!"

"You made the right call boss, going back!"

Jason nods "Didn't feel like it when we came under fire but... guess we're here to tell the tale! Unlike those two!" he looks over at the two coffins in front of him

"Oh shit!"   
They all take a sharp intake of breath as they see Ellis and Wes arrive, standing beside the coffins.

Wes has his arms wrapped around her, supporting her, holding her up. Her face shows how devastated they both are.   
Gently she runs her hand over the flag, touching it, feeling the cloth in her hand as she closes her eyes. She leans forward placing her forehead against the solidness of the coffin, stretching her arms across its width. Her sobbing is so loud that BRAVO can hear it carry across the other side of the hanger.

The sound of her cry cuts through all of them. The don't say a word as they uncomfortably look away. They feel awkward spectators, intruding on their grief.   
Just watching they can feel the waves of pain emanating from Ellis and Wes and it makes their tired eyes fill with tears. They only knew Lucas for a short period of time, but there wasn't one of them who didn't like him .

"He was a really great guy!" Clay comments sighing and wiping his face "He didn't deserve that"

Ray wipes his hand over his beard "He has two kids" he sighs, shaking his head in sadness

Jason's takes a deep breath in, he wants to do something, he wants to help, to comfort Ellis but he can't  
"Shit! No one deserved to die like that." he looks at Ray. "It's gonna hit those two hard, when they find out what happened to him"  
  
As they look back across the open space of the hanger to they can see Ellis getting angry with Wes as he tries to comfort her. Jason steps forward, he wants to go over, but Ray holds him back "Jason man, no! You can't go over there!"

"Ray..." he stares at him a pain etched in his face "I need to be there for her"

"Jace, you know you can't." he looks up, indicating towards the other side of the hanger, where in the open doorway he can see Mandy, Blackburn and more importantly, Sharpe are standing. "Jace brother, he's got eyes on you. You need to stay here! Don't risk it man!"

As they watch, Ellis crumples down onto the floor rocking back and forward with her head in her hands, crying.

Jason's feels the tug in his chest from the pain of watching Ellis's heart-breaking. He wants to go to her. He has a large aching pain, its choking him in his throat, and a tear rolls down his cheek. "Shit, I can't bear this! I need to help her!"

"Jason! .." Ray tries to grab him back as he starts to stride across the empty deck "Jace, don't do this man! Don't risk your career, not while he's watching. Let's go get a drink instead"

"Yeah c'mon Jace, Ray's right.. let's go get a drink." Clay also tries to stop him

"No, not yet! I gotta see her, I gotta tell her I'm sorry!"

Ray looks across at everyone and he steps behind Jason walking with him as least if they all go together he figures, Sharpe won't be able to single him out.

Wes puts his hands under her arms, picking up to her feet. He looks round as all of BRAVO are beside them "Ellis, Wes, I just wanted to say I'm so sorry!"

She closes her eyes she can't look at him, but she nods. she screws her face up tight she can't answer him she's trying to hold her emotions together. She hates this feeling, being weak, crying, out of control and vulnerable.   
  
"I mean it Ellis, I'm so sorry!"

She quickly looks round and catches his eye. He smiles and she smiles back "Thanks!" She sighs as she runs her hand through her hair, wiping her wet cheeks and chin dry with her hand then she places her hand back on the coffin gently stroking the flag covered shape, leaning her head back against it "I love you Lucas. I'll never forget you!"

Wes stands over her holding her, his hand on hers laid on top of the coffin "Come on Ellis, we have to go. I don't know about you but I need a drink!"  
  
She looks at him, and as much as she doesn't want to leave she nods in agreement .  
Wes smiles as he holds her chin up "You need to fix your makeup first!" he smiles trying to break the emotional tension  
"You look, a mess!" They both laugh as she cuddles into him closer, watching Jason over Wes's shoulder and for a few moments, Jason feels pangs of jealousy. He wants to be the one holding, the one comforting her and he can' t.

"So, how about those beers then ?" Sonny smiles, choked up with emotion, he pats Wes on the back   
  
"Yeah sounds like a plan!" Wes smiles back "C'mon Ellis, let's get that drink!"

She holds back still clutching at the flag on the casket, as the others walk away. Jason holds back waiting for her.   
She looks at him from across the coffin "How's Damien?" she coughs, she doesn't really want to ask but she knows it's a thing between them that needs addressing.

Jason shrugs "Um... yeah, he'll be okay, well kind of. Not sure he'll operate again but... "

"You know you did the right thing. Going back for him. I'm not .. I mean, I don't blame you for saving him."

He nods "You think it was the right thing?"

"I know it was" she smiles "You're a good man Jason. You couldn't have lived with having left him there and not tried to bring them back. It was the right thing."   
She smiles as a lone tear rolls down her cheek "Look, what went on between me and him, that's my issue to deal with, not yours!"

He nods, reaching across the coffin he places his hand gently on her cheek, his thumb wiping away the tear that sits there. She pulls away almost like he touches her with fire "Don't! Not here, not like this. "

"Ellis I want....I need, I need to be with you!"

"I know, it's just.... " she looks around "just not here, okay? It's too risky" she frowns at him "We can't do this here!" She smiles reassuring him "C'mon let's get that drink!" she looks at her hands she can see black smudges of her mascara and she can't imagine what her tear stained face looks like "I need to get cleaned up" she smiles as he smiles at her.

As they walk back across the helo bay following the guys, Sharpe calls her away "Ellis! Can I speak with you please!"  
  
She stops, standing still, closing her eyes letting out a long sigh "Jason, just go with the guys" she looks up smiling at Clay and Ray " I'll deal with him, then I'll come find you!"

"Sure, you're gonna be alright?"  
  
"Yeah! Yeah I'm sure" she smiles. "Don't worry, it's fine"

Jason and the rest of BRAVO leave, not without several looks back to check what's going on with Sharpe and Ellis.

She lets out a long-frustrated sigh as she waits for him to catch up with her. She turns looking at him as he marches towards her "What do you want Ryan?"

He stands in front of her looking her up and down rubbing his hand on her arm "I just wanted to know if you're alright?"

She laughs "No, no not really! But then, the body of my friend, who's be missing, tortured and put through hell has just been brought back " she lets out a long deep breath, biting her lip so as not to cry again "so no, no I'm not alright, really"

"Ellie I'm so sorry! I really mean that. I liked Lucas and I know how close the three of you were. If you want or need anything, then you just let me know."

She nods "Yeah, yeah thanks. Do you know what happened to him? I mean what they did?"

He closes his eyes looking away then putting his hand on her cheek "Trust me Ellie, you don't want to know the details. Just remember him how he was"   
He smiles again, trying to reassure her. He can see the pain etched on her forehead, the furrows deepen at his words. Her imagination is thinking allsorts.  
  
It takes her few moments to process her thoughts before she's able to speak without tears rolling down her cheek. but with her voice cracking she continues "Do they know when they're sending him home?"

"Yeah" he looks at his watch "They're informing the family about now, then hopefully they'll be on a repatriation flight Friday"

She takes a sharp breath in "Friday! Shit!" she frowns "That soon.... woah!"

"Hey. Will you be alright?" he frowns watching her "Look, we can't really talk here so do you want to meet up later? Come over to my office, away from everyone!"

She laughs shaking her head "No, I'm not sure that's a good idea do you? Not, at the moment. I was gonna go for drink with Wes, he needs me tonight"

Ryan runs his tongue over his lips. A part of him is annoyed that she's choosing to be with Wes over him. "Fine! Yeah Wes needs you, right! Well, text me if you need some company. I can soon make myself free!" he smiles "Oh um...Damien's back from surgery now, were you going to see him?"

She frowns "Why the hell would I go and see him?"

"I don't know, I thought you were gonna ask him about that video. The thing is Ellis, if this injury is the end of him operating, then he may have no reason not to release that video now!"

She laughs "Is that all your worried about? That damn video." She frowns "Oh my god! You're unbelievable. Why? What are you so worried about? What, in case your wife sees it?"

He frowns at her "_Ex_ ..My _ex-_wife, Ellie!"

"Yeah sure!" she nods "Sorry I forgot. _Ex-wife_!" She sighs "I can't do this now! I need a drink. I've got some things to finish up, some paperwork, so .... I better go! Wes will be wondering where I am."

"Ellie.... did you think any more about what I asked you?"

She bites her lip "Um...no, no not yet. I hadn't had time to give it much thought" she smiles "Look, Ryan I need to go!"   
She starts to walk away then stops "Ryan... " she sighs hesitating "I just need some space okay! I'll speak to you tomorrow."

He nods "Right! Fine. Yeah of course. You have as much space as you want!"


	39. A favor

Ellis takes a breath, finally feeling a lot more refreshed, having washed her face, tidied her hair and sorted her smudged mascara.  
She closes the door to the ladies bathroom and stands in the corridor for a moment, watching down the hallway as Commander Bennett unlocks the door to his office and enters.   
  
She stands still, deep in thought for a few moments, then decides to head down the corridor towards the office. At the doorway she hesitates, considering her actions then putting her hand to the door she knocks firmly.

"Come!" he calls without looking up. He's stood behind his desk, gathering up papers but as he sees her stood there he stops, looking at her "Ellis!" He frowns, surprised by her presence as she opens the door and walks in.   
  
She takes another moment, silent, contemplating what she's about to say to him."Um...Maxwell, do you have a minute?"

"Yeah sure" he frowns, puzzled "Please" he gestures into the room "Come in."

"Thanks" she smiles at him apprehensively, closing the door behind her. She takes another deep, nervous breath. 

"You okay?" He continues to frown, concerned by the look on her face "Oh, before you say anything, I wanted to tell you how sorry I am, about Lucas. They told me that they brought his body back today. That must be hitting you and Wes hard?" He sighs, giving her a sympathetic smile. "I know how close you three were."

She nods trying not to get herself back into the same emotional pit that she was in earlier "Yeah, thanks" she swallows hard, a knot of emotion stuck in her throat "I gotta say it's hard but ...at least we have him back now"

He nods. He feels uncomfortable looking at her, he can see the pain in her face "So, um ...Ellis, what can I do for you? I don't get the pleasure of your company much anymore"   
He smiles at her but it soon drops to a frown as he watches her. He can tell from the expression on her face that something's bothering her.

She bites her lip; as a huge awkwardness fills her. She really doesn't like what she's about to say but, she knows she has to do this "I... um.." she takes a breath "I need a couple of favors!"

"Favors?" he frowns "What sort of favors?" he doesn't know why but for some reason he feels worried "By the look on your face, I'm not gonna like this, am I?"

She shakes her head "Probably not"

He sits down in his leather chair, leaning back, letting out a long sigh. He looks her up and down "Go on then, ask me!"

"Um... well you might know that Wes, he's been offered a job, a modelling contract" she smiles "In New York"

Maxwell nods "Yeah, yeah I know, he talked to me about it. Look, if it's about that then I already told him, he still has six months to serve on his contract"

She nods "Yeah I know but ... well I need you to clear him to leave, and I want him on that repatriation flight, Friday, with Lucas. "

Maxwell laughs "Ellis, did you just hear what I said? He has six months to finish up first. There's nothing I can do about that"

She nods "Yeah I did, but um...I need you to get him out of it! And....I also need for me to be on that flight as well!"

  
He sits bolt upright in his chair, giving her a deep frown "Ellis, you know there is no way that I can get either of you on that flight, or any flight come to that."   
He sighs "This is not personal. You know I'd happily sign Wes's forms tomorrow if I could. I don't know, maybe there is a way, if I looked into it, to get him out earlier, but even if I could pull strings for Wes it's highly unlikely I can do it by Friday and there is _no_ way you are getting on that flight" he shakes his head "Ellis, there's just no way! I'm sorry, I can't help you"   
  
He pauses looking at her as she stands staring at him. He's wondering what it is that's happened that's made her want this so badly   
"Ellis, I told you before, any requests you put in for leave or transfers, I've been ordered to get them authorised by Group Captain Sharpe. I mean, I'm sure he'd grant some compassionate leave to attend the funeral. If you want, I can put in for that, maybe on a flight next week?"

She shakes her head "No, no I don't want compassionate leave, I want out! I need a transfer out!"

"Transfer? Transfer where?"

She shrugs "I don't care, anywhere, but I want out of here!" Her emotions are getting the better of her again and she wipes a stray tear from her cheek "Oh...except Virginia Beach" she sniffs "I don't want to go there!" She laughs as she stares at him.

  
He shakes his head. He's confused by her request "Ellis, I _can't_ do a transfer, not unless you speak to Sharpe about it!"   
He sighs, he can see the look of disappointment in her face and he desperately wants to help her "What's this all about?" he frowns "You've never been that unhappy here, have you? I'm sure it's just the way you're feeling right now. Just put in for the compassionate leave and go to the funeral, have a few days out, I'm sure it will seem much better after that. Come back and start a fresh"

She takes a deep sigh, shaking her head. She bites her lip and closes her eyes holding back her tears "Compassionate leave?" she sighs again then laughs "I'm sorry that's not what I'm asking for!" she grits her teeth watching him "Please Maxwell, just do this one thing for me!"

"I'm sorry Ellis, I can't help you!"

She sighs rubbing her head, her mind is in conflicted turmoil "Look, I don't wanna do this to you, and believe me this is not personal either." she takes a breath "But I'm sorry, if there was any other way I wouldn't do it but ...if you don't get me on that flight, then... then I'm reporting that we're having an affair!"

He stands up nearly choking "_WHAT!!_? What the hell!" he frowns at her "An _affair_! But.. but Ellis, we're not having an _affair_? I don't understand."   
He frowns staring at her "Ellis, we had sex. Sex, that you instigated on most occasions if I remember! And as much as I enjoyed every minute of that, it was never an affair. Is that what you thought it was?"   
He takes a deep breath, he's shocked "No!" he points at her " Sorry what! Why are you even saying this?"

"I'm sorry Maxwell" she shrugs "But, I really need to be on that flight!"

He panics trying to think what to do, rubbing the sweat from his forehead "Look alright... Wes, Wes I might be able to find a work around? But you.." he shakes his head "Ellis there's no way I'm getting around that paperwork, not without Sharpe's signature! You have to think of something else that doesn't involve me!"   
The implications of what she's saying, what she's going to accuse him of, now hits home   
"Shit!" he stares at her, pleading with her "Ellis, please don't do this!"

She takes a breath "I'm sorry but I've got no choice. I need you to get me on that flight. The only way you'll do that, is if I focus your attention, if you have something to lose!"

"Ellis" he glares at her frowning, he's really angry with her now "What the hell is going on? Why do you so desperately need to leave and why is he so set on you not leaving?"

She laughs embarrassed, pushing her hair back from her face. "We.. we um..."

"Oh my god! How stupid am I?" a look of realization comes over Maxwell's face and he laughs shaking his head at his own naivety "You're seeing him aren't you?" he frowns "Shit! Were you seeing him when we, ... when we were fooling around? Jesus christ! Shit! Does he know about us? Oh god!"

"Maxwell calm down! No, no he doesn't know about us!" she shakes her head at him "And no, I never slept with him when we were _fooling around_ ... No!" she continues shaking her head "It was after. That's why I called it off between us!"

"So, if you're seeing him then why the hell are you threatening me, putting my career on the line? Just ask him to sign the damn form" he sighs "If this, us, if that came out, you know I would be finished. You do realize that?"

She nods "I know, and I'm sorry. But I've got no choice. Look, I promise, you get me on that flight, and I will keep you out of this. But I need you to do it "

"Ellis, what we did... I mean, I never talked you into it. You wanted it as much as me!"

"I know, I know, it's not about what we did. But if I don't get what I want.." she pauses "then I'm gonna bring it all down. You, Damien and him! I'll put in complaints about all of it, and the fact that it all got covered up!" she sighs "I don't want to hurt you Maxwell, I really don't"

"Oh shit" he rubs his head, pacing the room "What the fuck?! I can't believe you're gonna do this, Ellis. Why?"

"Because Wes wants out" she sighs " and that means that there's nothing here for me now, not without him, not without Lucas and with Jas.... " she hesitates "I want out! It's as simple as that. Look, he won't leave me alone if I stay here"

Maxwell takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly as he thinks "Alright, look, I'll do what I can, but I'm not promising"

"Just find me the work around, get it in place. Then ...I'll get him to sign off on it!"

"Alright!" Maxwell rubs his head dropping back in his chair. He frowns "You said a couple of favors, so what's the other one?"

  
This time she laughs, letting out a long sigh. She sits herself on the edge of his desk, running her hand through her hair not looking at him.  
"Yeah, there is another one. But this one I think you will like more!" she turns and smiles at him "There's a video ..." she bites her lip " ..doing the rounds, with Alpha team. I need you to get a look at it! Tell me if you can see who's actually in it"

"A video?" he frowns, confused "A video of what?"

She laughs, feeling ashamed and embarrassed "Oh for god sake Maxwell, use your imagination!"

"Oh my god!" he laughs "You mean a sex tape?" he frowns "Of who?... Oh god, of you? Someone has a video of you Ellis?" his frown deepens "Jesus, why would you do that? No, no don't answer that actually"  
  
"Look, it's not like I agreed to it. I don't even know how someone got it. I just ... I just need you to find a way, I need you to look at it"

He laughs, nodding "Well... considering what else you're threatening me with, I guess I can manage that. So who has the video?"

She pauses hesitating "Damien!"

"Oh shit! Alright, well I guess it's an easier favor than the first one!" he smiles at her

She sighs "Look, just make up some story, tell him ..." she shrugs " I don't know.. you heard it doing the rounds and you were curious. But he can't know that I told you!"

"Okay!" he gets up, coming around to her side of the desk. He can see how tired she is and he brushes her hair away from her face "You look like you need some sleep. You look tired Ellis"

"Yeah!" she sighs again "Yeah, it's been a long day for sure!"

"Ellis, .." he grabs her hand, hesitating as he speaks "Be careful what you're doing here. You go after him ...Sharpe, and it's not gonna end well. I'm just sayin' I've heard he doesn't like being cornered"

"I know" she puts her hand on his arm and sighs "I should never have let him into my life the way I did. But this is not about me now. Now I have to fix this, before other people get hurt"   
  
She smiles at him, kissing him on the cheek "Thank you. You know I always cared for you Maxwell, you were always a good friend"  
  
"Yeah you too Ellis. Though you have a funny way of showing it"

"I need to go!" she opens the door to leave "But Maxwell, get me on that flight, please!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

**Later that evening **

Wes straddles the bench, sitting himself next to Clay at the table. The guys are all talking and as he sits down they look around, looking over at the table in the corner where he just left Ellis sitting alone, She's leaned on her elbow, sipping from the glass in her hand.

"Is she okay?" Clay frowns, checking with Wes

"Yeah, she'll be alright. Just leave her. You can't reason with her when she's been drinking like that. She'll calm down" he sighs looking at his watch "I'll give her half an hour then I'll take her back to get some sleep"

Sonny laughs handing Wes another beer "It's been a hellava day, she just needs to work through it. She's a tough cookie, she'll be okay!"

Wes sips from his bottle of drink, nodding his head. He looks at Clay and lets out a long sigh "Trouble is, she's not as tough as she makes out. But the problem is, she's as stubborn as hell!" he smiles a Clay who lets out a little laugh under his breath.

"You want me to speak to her?" Jason's stood over them drinking his beer, while he watches her. She's not moved, still sat in the same position.

"No! She's fine. She just needs some space" Wes smiles at him

"Jason, just sit down. She's fine, Wes said to leave her" Clay frowns as he looks at Ray and they both shake their heads

"You got something you wanna say there Clay?" Jason's tired, taking Clay's tone and his eye roll as a slight

"No boss," he shakes his head "Just Wes said... .." He stops speaking mid conversation at the sounds of glass shattering and raised voices. They all turn around to the direction of the noise.  
  


"Did you just say something?" Ellis frowns, having knocked a bottle off the table, smashing it "Hey Molly!, I'm talking to you! What did you just say about me, you little bitch ?"   
Ellis gets up and pulls at her hair to focus her attention

"Go away Ellis, you're drunk!"

"No! I want you to say what you said again, but this time to my face" she sighs "I heard you, I heard what you said! Have you got no respect?"

"Me, respect!" she laughs "Oh, I've got plenty of respect, perhaps if you had a bit more respect, for _yourself,_ you wouldn't be sitting here like the drunken whore that you are!" She laughs, she knows she's goading Ellis   
"You know, I'll never know how you don't get done for breaking the rules. I mean isn't that what got Lucas killed, you breaking the rules?"

"What the hell did you say!?" Ellis picks up her drink and throws it over Molly, then grabbing hold of a handful of her hair she pulls on it hard, yanking her head forward

"Oww.. you dirty little whore! Get off me!"

"Oh hell!" Wes leaps to his feet "Ellis! Ellis, stop!" he lets a frustrated sigh "Oh my god Ellis _NO_!" He's over beside her as the two girls now start to fight. Wes tries to un-grip Ellis's hand from Molly's hair.

Clay leaps over the chairs and stands between them as the tries to help Wes keep them apart. Wes pulling a screeching Ellis away from the scene.

Clay hands Molly a cloth to wipe herself "You okay?" he smiles, still trying to calm the situation. He knows Molly likes him, she's made that perfectly clear since week one of their deployment, and he tries to use that to his advantage now.

"Stupid Bitch!" Molly frowns, she's so angry   
  
"You know, I'm not making excuses for her, but she's had a really bad day today, so I'm sure she didn't mean it. We um.. we brought Lucas's body home today. So maybe you could give her a bit of leeway?"  
  
Molly smiles at him, shaking her head. "No, she doesn't need an excuse. She's always been a bitch!"   
She sighs "But yeah .. yeah you're right.." she smiles at him "I was a bit out of order, I shouldn't have said what I said. She just gets on my nerves. It winds me up" she smiles again"how everyone thinks she's little Miss perfect!"

"I'm sure they don't!" Clay smiles, trying to soften the tone "Here, let me get you another drink" he smiles looking round at Wes, who still has hold of Ellis  
  


"Ellis, will you calm the hell down!" he pulls her up from the sitting position at the table and pushes her out of the bar area "MOVE!" He keeps shoving her in the back, until she's outside in the dark, away from Molly.   
He's hoping the cooler air will sober her up. "Calm the hell down. What the fuck was that all about? And with her of all people. You know already that she doesn't like you! You'll be lucky if she doesn't report you!"

"Oh who cares!" Ellis drops down, rubbing her head as she sits on some boxes "Just leave me alone Wes! I've I had enough of you for today!"  
Her phone buzzes and she pulls it out of her pocket "Oh great!" She sighs, putting it back in her pocket

Wes notices the look on her face, and he saw the caller display "Who's that?"

"No one!"

"So, I guess _no one_ doesn't have a name?"

"Wes, just leave it! I don't want to talk about it right now"

"Fine! Don't talk about Ryan, that's fine by me!" He sighs " Look, just go back to your bunk and go to bed Ellis! Get some sleep. I'll come check on you in a little while, I'm just gonna have another drink with the guys!"

"Wes!" she frowns at him "What you're gonna leave me alone?"

"Ellis, I just need a little space from you right now. Neither of us are in a good place and I just ...." He sighs

"Fine! Right, yeah sure, you go back to your guys! I'll just be by myself!" she puts her hand on his collar looking him in they eyes "Wes come on... don't leave me alone tonight! You know in the past, you'd have come back with me. Stayed with me. Given me comfort" she tips her head smiling at him.

"Ellis.." he sighs talking her hands from his shirt "I'm sorry alright, it's not the same now and you know why. Look, why don't you call Jason? Hmm.."

"Fine! No, you're right. I don't need you anyway!" She starts to walk away 

"Ellis.. come on don't... " he frowns but then he makes the decision to ignore her "Oh just go!" he waves her away, watching as she wanders, staggering across the base. He shakes his head, annoyed with her, annoyed with himself, then heads back to the outside communal area where they guys are gathered.

He picks up another beer.   
"She okay?" Clay frowns "You want me to go after her, have a word maybe?"

"No! She'll be alright! She just needs some time to calm down. She's just upset about Lucas that's all."

Clay laughs, raising his bottle at Molly "Oh Jeez!" he sighs "Unlike me. I don't think I'll be okay till I leave now" he laughs

Wes frown "Why? What's happened?"

"Molly, happened!" he turns his back "I can't get her to leave me alone now" he laughs again, as does Wes.

"Well you know if you are looking for a little action, before you leave, then... Molly's not a bad place to start!" he laughs "I'm not saying she's adventurous but.. she is up for it!"

Clay frowns "What? Oh no please tell me you haven't?" Clay laughs "That, does not help in fact it makes it so much worse!"

"Hey, what? I was new here once too!" Wes laughs as he and Clay relax back on the benches "Though I will warn you, if you do go there, she does has slightly stalker-ish tendencies!"

Jason and Ray join them. They check around the bar area. Sonny's asleep, his head resting on the table   
"Maybe we should have sent him back to keep Ellis company !" Clay laughs. He looks at the deadpan face of Jason " Sorry Jace! I didn't mean any offence!"

"It's alright, none taken!" Jason sips from his beer "So where is she?"

Wes sighs "Hopefully, if she's got any sense, she's walked back to her bunk and got her head down. She'll be alright when she sleeps it off" he frowns "I'll go check on her in a while ."

"I can do that if you want?" he smiles "But first, lets raise a toast, to Lucas!"

"Yeah! To Lucas" Wes smiles as Clay pats him on the back

"To Lucas!" 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Okay... so, do you remember this one?" she holds up her phone with the picture on it "That's when we went to that function, and we knocked over that champagne tower!"   
She laughs "Do you remember that? That was so funny. We got in so much trouble " she laughs again before she takes another large swig from the tequila bottle.

"Oh!..." she frowns "And this one, when Lucas junior took his first steps. You remember, your Amelia left us to look after him, God she was so gutted, I mean all those times you were away, and she's the one missed his first steps"  
  
She laughs again, seated on the floor, alone, flicking through the photographs on her phone as she leans her head back against the side of Lucas's coffin. 

A tear rolls down her cheek, as she remembers all the good times as she takes another large gulp from the bottle. "Yeah, yeah I can hear you! I know, I know, I've had enough. Yes I know it's a school night..." She continues having her imaginary conversation in her head as she stands the bottle down beside her. She's swaying slightly and laughs to herself. 

"Ellis!"  
  
She takes a sudden breath in, looking around as she hears her name called. She can't see anyone and she stands up, to look around better.

"Ellis, what are you doing here all alone?"

"Um... oh it's you!" she looks up see Ryan standing over her. She smiles "I just wanted to be with Lucas, didn't want him to be here on his own. We were chatting, remembering the good time" she smiles as some large tears roll down her cheek, dripping from her chin.

"How much have you had to drink?" he frowns at her

"Not much! How's that your business anyway?"

Ryan laughs he can see by the glazed looking in her face how drunk she is "I guess it's not!"

She stand, brushing her pants down from the dusty floor "I need to go!"

"Wait!...Ellis stay a minute! Come on give me a drink, after all it is _my_ favourite tequila!" he smiles "So you could at least let me have some! How about a toast? A toast to Lucas!"  
Ryan takes a swig and then passes it back to her. She smiles, watching him for a moment before she takes another drink.

He looks around the quiet aircraft hanger, watching her drunkenly swaying as she stands in front of him. He puts his hand on her waist holding her still then he slowly pulls her towards him.

"Ryan stop!" she frowns "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"I think you know what I'm doing, Ellie! Oh c'mon, you know how much I want you" he kisses her neck "Let's go back to my office, it's more private there!"

"No! Ryan, no stop! I'm not doing this." she untangles herself from his grip "Me and you it's over! It's not happening anymore!"   
She pushes him back, rubbing her head as she tries to rid the drunken feeling that's clouding her judgement, trying to focus "Ryan.." she pulls at his hand, removing it from her waist "I'm not doing this with you anymore!"

"Oh, come Ellie" he smiles "don't keep holding out on me. Do you know how difficult it is seeing you day after day and not being able to touch you?"   
He frowns as he sees shes not giving in "You know, you never use to play this hard to get. What's going on?"

"Nothing!" she sighs , shaking her head "I just want to be left alone, tonight!"

"You just what?" he laughs " Since when?" he frowns again, staring at her face trying to read her expression "Are you getting it somewhere else is that why?"

"Ryan stop!" She shakes her head in annoyance "No that's not the reason, it's ... it's because you're a liar, Ryan!" she rubs her head the drink is really clouding her thinking

"A liar? A liar, about what? Ellie, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You're a liar about this!" she holds up her phone, facing the screen to him with the picture of him at the charity gala "Melissa hasn't left you, has she? You lied to me, Ryan!"

He laughs "Is that what you're upset about ?" he frowns "Jesus, get a grip Ellie. That was a charity function, it was booked nearly a year ago and yes ... yes, Melissa was there! Alright, I hold my hands up. She was there because she's on the board for the charity. But you know that, I've told you that before. What's brought this on now?"

She laughs "So did you need to have your arm around her? Seems pretty cosy to me!"

"Oh for god sake! It was for show. It was about raising money for the charity. We didn't want the questions about our separation to overshadow the event!"

"So she's not at the house then?" she frowns at him "She's not still sleeping in your house, in your bed?"

He pauses, thinking how to answer her. He lets out a long sigh "Look okay I'll admit she's not quite moved out yet! But, there wasn't any rush"   
He clings at her waist again, his hand on her chin staring at her "I'm here, she's there! It's just while she gets her new place decorated! Look, it's costing me enough for the refurbishment without me paying out for a hotel for her to stay in. It made sense for her to stay in the house!" he sighs again   
"Oh for god sake Ellis, we're not teenagers!"   
He frowns watching the look in her face "What are you jealous about this ? Is that why you're holding out on me?" he laughs but she doesn't move "But you don't believe me? What you think I'm still sleeping with her?"

"Are you?" she thinks for a moment now he's explained it does make sense "Oh, I don't know I just ..." she sighs " I was hurt Ryan, when Wes showed me that picture. It stung! Especially after you told me she was gone! And especially after... after you brought me underwear back from Paris!" she sighs

"Which you looked great in by the way" he smiles, but she just gives him a more annoyed frown "Okay, you're right I should have told you what was going on, but then we haven't had any time alone for ages so, when have I been able to tell you?"

She laughs "Listen to you Ryan. The lies just keep rolling out of your mouth! You wouldn't have told me, not if Wes hadn't found that picture and shown me! So don't bullshit now! Oh my God... arghhh! Why am I such a fool around you?"

He smiles " Oh come on I think we both know the answer to that! C'mon Ellie, you know how much I care about you. How much I want you!"

She laughs "No, but I know how much you want sex with me! That's what you really mean, isn't it?" she shakes her head "God, to think I actually loved you so much... it's so pathetic!"

"_LoveD!_? " he frowns "You make it sound like it's over? What the hell are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to tell you it's over! I'm _over _you!" she looks at him letting out a long sigh "Me and you, I'm serious, it's not happening anymore" She wipes the tears from her face then turns and walks away from him.

"Really?" he frowns "And why's that Ellis?" He shouts behind her "Is that because Hayes has climbed in your bed now? Is he filling my space? What about when he's gone? You'll come crawling back you'll need to satisfy your needs somehow!"

She stops walking and standing still she takes a moment,gathering her emotions in check before she turns to face him  
"Jason! Jason, has got nothing to do with this, you keep him out of it! Ryan, do you understand me?"

"I thought so!" he laughs "Well it's your choice, Ellie! You can fix all of this right now, or maybe the Master Chiefs career goes down in flames. It's simple really, you know what I want!" 

She frowns "What you want me to marry you?" she laughs "That's not happening"

"Marry me or not" he shrugs "That, I don't care. But I do want you back in my bed, that's true!"

She takes a breath, disgusted with his comment, she can't believe what he's saying "You really are monster aren't you! I'm not playing this game anymore. But I am warning you Ryan, be careful not to push me too far!"

He laughs "And what's that suppose to mean?"

"What I said, don't push me!"   
  
She heads off across the helo bay as he calls her again "Ellie, don't threaten me! It won't work"

She stops turning round to face him. "Go fuck yourself Ryan!"   
  
She walks away, with tears streaming down her face. She's so angry and hurt right now. It takes all ofnher strength to cut him off like that and she needs to get away from him. 


	40. What's that?

"Have you found her?"

"No, and she's still not answering her phone." Wes rubs his head "Shit! Where the hell is she?"   
He sighs "Damn it! I knew I should have gone with her" he sighs, again checking his phone "Clay you got anything?"   
  
Clay heads back towards them "No. No one's seen her"

Jason frowns, checking his phone "Did you try the helo bay? I just wondered if.... you know, if she might have gone there"  
  
"Yeah, someone said she'd been there for a while. But she's not there now."

Jason looks at Wes "She wouldn't do anything stupid, would she? I mean she'd had, had a lot to drink"

"No!" he shakes his head "No, she'll get drunk and pass out somewhere." Wes frowns, he admits to himself that it had crossed his mind because of the state she was in, but though he won't say it out loud, he's actually more worried _who_ she might be with, than where. 

"Yeah but she wasn't herself, and she was pretty upset early. We need to find her."

"I'm gonna check back at her bunk, I'll wait there for a while, she's bound to come back, I mean you know how Ellis likes her sleep" he laughs "So she he has to come back at some point. I'll keep trying her phone."   
  
"Alright, well we'll have another look around" Clay smiles, patting Wes on the back.   
He has a worried frown on his face the same as Jason "Hey come on she'll be fine, we'll find her. She probably just wants some space; you know somewhere we haven't thought to look."

"Will she Clay? She's had so much going on. What about if this, what happened to Lucas, what if that pushes her over the edge. I mean we didn't really take care of her earlier. I should have gone after her."

"Hey, come on. Don't think like that, she'll turn up"

"Wait!" Jason looks round "You know you're right Clay. Why the hell didn't I think of it before? You said she might want some space, somewhere we didn't think of...Damn!" he laughs " I think I know where she might be." he nods towards Wes "Keep your phone on, I'll text you if I find her"

"You want me to come with you?"

"No, no it's fine. I got this."

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Jason climbs to the top of the ladder and a relieved smile breaks out across his face as he sees her._ Ellis. Thank God!_

She's laid on a blanket on the rooftop of the stores.   
Now instead of sunbathing she's laying there looking at the stars, enjoying the peace, the part finished bottle of tequila sitting beside he.

He sighs out loud "You know you won't get much tan up here tonight."  
  
She look round at the sound of his voice and smiles "Yeah well, at least I'll get some peace and quiet." 

"We've been looking everywhere for you!" he smiles at her "I was worried. You need to text Wes, tell him you're okay"

"Why?"

"Because he's worried about you, Ellis. We all were."

"Yeah I guess. Sorry, I just needed some peace" She sighs looking at him "You know the three of us used to come up here and look at the stars and think about going home. Well Lucas mainly thought about going home" she laughs "It's not like me and Wes got anywhere else to go."  
She lets out a deep long, sad, sigh "If only he'd come and looked at the stars with me that night of the explosion.....then maybe he'd still be here"  
  
She sighs again as she picks up her silenced phone. Glancing at the screen, she can see all the notifications for the missed calls and messages. "Wow! You're right, you have been looking for me. I better let him know I'm okay."

Jason nods his head "Can I come up or do you want me to go?"

"Yeah sure" she nods, moving over on the blanket to make room for him beside her.

He brushes her hair back from her face, looking her deep in the eyes. "You okay now?"

"No,no not really" she shakes her head "I miss Lucas so much."

Jason puts his arm around her, pulling her towards him. She leans her head on his shoulder "I know, and I'm sorry. I just wish we could have got to him alive, I really do."

She turns her head, looking up at him, then reaching forward she kisses him gently on the lips. Softly placing her hand to his cheek, running her fingers across the rough of the growth of his stubble. He kisses her back, before laying her down on her back on the blanket.   
  
She's laid under him, staring each other in the eyes. He smiles, watching her facial expression "I missed you."

She smiles, at his words "Me too." she sighs "You know, I never wanna do that again."

"Do what?"he frowns 

"Sit the other side of that screen, while you're out there, doing what you do. I know something, I can't do that again."

"Look, Ellis... you know our deployment, it finishes in nine days, then...."

"Shh!" she puts her hand to his lips "Don't say anything. I don't want to talk about that, not tonight." She kisses him again, tracing her fingers around the outline of his face "Jason.... I- I want you so much. Just be with me, stay with me tonight."

He can feel his heart beating hard in his chest. It's so fast that it almost hurts. He can also feel a movement in his pants, just touching her is turning him on and he rubs his body against hers. Shifting his weight against her, grinding his hips on the soft of her leg.   
  
He can't hold back, and he kisses her firmly, popping the buttons on the front of her shirt, and pulling the sleeves down her arms. Then placing his hand up under the T-Shirt she's wearing he finds the soft flesh of her breast   
  
"Mmmm!" The feeling of her soft body, it really gets him going, making him hard.   
  
She smiles, watching the pleasure in his face as he continues to massage her breasts. She pulls her arms out of the tangled material of her shirt, then she wraps her arms around him. Her hands moving up and down his back, massaging his flesh.   
She holds him tight, pulling him closer to her, rolling him on to his back, underneath her so she can straddles herself across his lap.   
  
They continue kissing, firmly, needy, not letting go. They don't stop, their mouths locked together, but still unable to satisfy the need they have for each other.

"Jason...." she sighs breathlessly, feeling her want for him. The heat and wet in her panties, is like a fire and with his help, she scrambles to get out of her clothes. He undoes her khakis, pulling them off, then lying her back he starts working his kisses all over her body.   
  
Starting at the soft of her breast, down the taut of her stomach then back to the soft firmness of her thigh, using his hand to traces his kisses over her nakedness.   
  
She closes her eyes, letting go of her senses and enjoying his gentle, but manly touch on her body. Her hands gripping and pulling at his hair "Oh god!" She lets out a deep long, wanting, groan.   
She can feel his need for her, with each kiss he makes and the further down her body he goes. Now he's concentrating his lips, working them over the soft of her inner thighs and she pulls needy and wanting, at his head.   
  
He clears them some space, moving their clothes to the side, but as he pushes her combats into the pile, something falls from her pocket.   
At first she doesn't see it, lost in the intense feelings of pleasure as he continues creating hot waves over her, but then the small box catches his eye, and he halts what he's doing. Stopping exactly where he is, positioned between her legs he looks over  
  
"Whats that?" he frowns, sitting up looking at her.

"What?" she, smiles taking a deep breath, unable to make out exactly what's got his curiosity.   
  
Then she sees it and a look of horror comes over her. "Oh no it's nothing, just ignore it." She pulls at his head, turning it away from the box, kissing him  
"Jason come here, I need you." she engages his lips with hers "Please, don't stop. Not now."  
  
She frowns, realising he's not ignoring it, that he now has it in his hand "Jason please, just leave it! It really is nothing. It's just something I found." she frowns again as she sees him looking at it, about to open it "Jason, don't!"

He looks at her, sitting back "What the hell is this?"   
He keeps frowning and when she doesn't give him an answer he opens the small box.   
  
She lets out a long sigh, grabbing her T-Shirt because now he's stopped kissing her she feels exposed, and slightly embarrassed. "Just put it down." she sighs, worried "Jason, it's not what you think."

"Not what I think?" He opens the box, staring at the contents "What the fuck is it then?"  
He looks from her to the diamond ring that's sitting in front of him "I don't understand?" he questions her as she sits up.   
  
She's trying to think what to say, before attempting to grab it from his hand "Look I told you it's nothing! Just something I found."

"Nothing? " he frowns "Well it looks like something to me." he laughs "You didn't find this, did you. Where the hell did you get it?" She still doesn't answer and now he can feel himself getting angry" Why the hell do you have a ring in your pocket?"

"Look, it's not what you think, I'm gonna give it back. I just... I just, needed some time. I can explain."

"Go on then, explain. Explain this to me."  
  
She rubs at her head, very quickly sobering up, as the reality of what's happening here hits her. "I .. look... " She flounders over her words

"Oh my god! Did he give this to you?" Jason snaps at her "Sharpe.Did he give you this ring?"

She nods as a tear runs down her face "Yeah!"   
  
She closes her eyes, a pain in her chest as she sees the anger in his face "But Jason, I can explain."

"What the fuck!" he sighs, rubbing his head in frustration "Oh my god, Harry warned me, but I didn't listen. I didn't' wanna believe what he said. But this, this proves he was right, I'm just some pawn in your games."

"What?" she frowns "Harry said what? What game? Jason this is not what you think"

"He said that it was a game, you sleep with me, you make Sharp jealous. Is that what it is? What you both get a kick out of that?" Jason pulls his t shirt back on, straightening his combats and standing up as he pulls them up but he doesn't bother to do them up properly   
"So are you going to tell me, what this is?"

"Jason please. Don't do this right now."  
  
"God dammit Ellis, tell me what this is?"

She takes a deep breath, tears rolling down her cheeks "Okay, yeah ... he um... he asked me to marry him. Ryan he...he gave me that ring" She can see the look in his face and he chucks the box at her   
"Jason please .. " she begs him to listen "I'm not gonna go through with it. I'm gonna give it back. I promise."

"So why did you take it? Why is it in your pocket?"

"I don't know" she shrugs " I just .. I just needed to buy some time, keep him onside.. I .."

"Oh, you bought some time alright." he picks up the rest of his clothes "You have as much time as you want because I'm done here. I'm done with you!"

"Jason!" she puts her shaking hand to her mouth, trying to cover her sobs "Please.." she grabs at the bottom of his combats "Please don't leave, not like this. Not tonight."

He stops. Pulling his leg from her grip, he glares at her.   
  
"Jason, just listen, okay..." she panics trying to get her words out "Look, I admit I was..._was_ in love with him. But I'm not now. And yes, him asking me that .. .Oh my god, a few months ago, all I wanted was for him to look at me like that and ask me. But he didn't. Now .. it just came out of the blue and I have to admit, it threw me, I didn't know what to say."

"So what? Once I leave, what you're gonna go back to him. Sneak around, carry on seeing him until the next sucker like me, turns up on deployment"

She shakes her head "No!" she takes a deep breath in "No don't say that. Ryan and me, we're done. It's over"

"Right, really you're done. And you're sure of that are you?"

She nods "Yeah, yeah I'm sure."

"Why now? Why are you so sure now?"

"Because.... because I don't love him anymore and I realised, he's just using me, playing his own games to get what he wants"

Jason laughs at her "Well you know what? I'm done too." He takes a breath looking at her, she looks so pathetic sat there, tears streaming down her face  
"You know Ellis I ... " he hesitates "I really liked you. But I can't keep doing this. Every time I think were getting on well, something comes between us" He looks at her one more time before as he makes his way back to the ladder to get off the roof top

She sits tears running down her face "Jason!!" she cries out "Don't go! Please stay, be with me."

"Too late Ellis. I'm not getting involved in this game."

Her heart is aching as she struggles for her words, watching him doing his pants up and pulling his hoodie over his head "Oh god!!" She hurts so bad,crying out loud but he's just ignoring her.   
She so badly wants to tell him how she feels, but she's scared. Scared he will reject her, and she can't get the words out. Rubbing at her forehead, trying to ease the pain that aches, she's in turmoil.

"You know Ellis, these games, the risks you take, one day someone's gonna get hurt."

"Yeah well...." she sniffs back her tears "perhaps too late. Perhaps someone already did." she takes a deep breath as she looks at him.   
  
He frowns at her "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh god!" she sighs looking away, closing her eyes "Do I really need to explain?"   
  
She takes another deep breath, still unable to make eye contact with him, afraid to say the words in her head. "Oh shit" she bites her lips before the words just stumble out of her mouth "Maybe because,.... because _I'm_ falling for you."

Taken by surprise, he turns back to look at her. She now has her head in her hands, sobbing into her lap "Oh god! I'm sorry I didn't want to say that, but it's the truth. Sorry, just go."   
With both hands she wipes all the tears from her face, trying to gather her emotions

He stands staring at her, opened mouthed "You've fallen for me? What!"

She shrugs "Look, I know .. and I know we can't be together. I get it, I do. That's why I didn't want to say anything. But the thought of losing you, not seeing you. It's so hard."   
She takes a deep breath "But I know I have to let you go because.... we can't be together." She starts to cry again "Just go, just leave me alone."   
  
She gets up and walks away from him, to the other edge of the roof. Turning her back on him, before squatting down, her head in her hands crying, it all just comes out now. She hurts from the knotted pain in her stomach.

He stops where he is at the top of the ladder. Staring, watching her. He lets out a long sigh, then continues to climb down the ladder. Then he stops "Damn it!"   
He changes his mind and comes back up on to the roof. "Ellis....Ellis, look at me."

She stands up and slowly turns around "It's okay, you don't have to say anything, I know you don't feel the same" the tears are streaming down her face now   
"Please just go." Her chest hurts from crying so much, and she tries desperately to hold back her tears.

He's in front of her, his hand on her cheek, staring her in the eyes. He's searching her face for something and then he leans forward kissing her.  
  
She closes her eyes as he continues to kiss her, they don't stop. She's wrapped around him, their mouths making the same movements against each other. Desperately wanting each other.   
  
She pulls away a large smile on her face. She can see this look in his eyes, it's the same want and need for her, that she has for him. They're both smiling at each other, he strokes her face and then he starts to undress her again this time unable to hold back. He can't wait to show her how much he wants her.

She wants to give herself to him, and he turns her around, bending her over the wall that runs around the top of the roof space. His hand is feeling between her legs, touching her.   
He can feel how ready and wanting she is for him.  
  
She takes a deep breath as he unbuttons his pants, allowing his firmness to spring forward. He steadies himself, before he thrusts into her tightness from behind.   
  
Her hands grip the wall, steadying her movements as he kisses her neck and down her back.  
"Oh god!"she lets out a deep groan before taking another deep breath in at the full feeling as he thrusts again, this time with more force, more want.  
  
He can feel his desire taking over him and how much he needs her. He knows he won't last long because the electric excitement he's feeling is overwhelming"Oh god, Ellis!!"   
  
She's getting more turned on as he grabs at her breasts from behind and as she tenses which pushes him to the edge "Ahh! mmmm! .....Oh God I'm gonna ...."   
  
He tries desperatly to hold on, but he can't. She's exactly what he wants right now and it's too much. He thrusts forward once again, all his pent-up emotions, anger, passion and frustration explode in a testosterone fuelled explosion.   
  
She knows he's cum she can feel his wet warmth on her inner thigh. She relaxes, smiling, as he rests his cheek against her back "Oh god! I'm so sorry!" he breaths "I didn't mean it to be over like that."

She slowly turns around, as he holds her in his arms, she's smiling, pulling up her shorts and combats, kissing his lips "I'm not worried. I just wanna be with you"   
  
He leans in kissing her again, running his hand down her back feeling the outline of her body kissing her continually as he pulls her tight against him.

"Hmm" She smiles wondering if she might explode just from sheer contentment right now. Holding her arms round his neck as he holds her close. They're just staring into each other in the eyes "What now?" she smiles 

"I don't know." he shakes his head " But right now ....right at this moment, I'm taking you back to bed and doing this properly." he smiles.

She laughs "That's not what I mean. I mean.. where do we go from here? After tonight. I mean we both know this can't happen"

"Shh! Not now. Look, we'll figure something out"   
He kisses her then sighs, brushing her hair back from her face "You know you're so beautiful. I can't imagine not being with you."

She smiles "Jason, let's not get carried away. We both know after this deployment ends, we can't be together"

He sighs "Well, let's just be careful, for the last few days. Enjoy what we can" He smiles as he kisses her again "Starting right now."

She nods "Oh I agree, but...."

He shakes his head "No, come on. Let's get back and enjoy what we've got left of tonight. Are you coming? Because I need to go deal with this sudden urge I have."

"Oh!" she laughs "You have another urge, so soon?" 

"Yeah, must be something you do to me."

She smiles wrapping her arms round his neck, pulling herself close to him "Okay, c'mon on then, you can show me what you're made of soldier."

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**


	41. Leave Jason alone

**WARNING NSFW - this chapter has some little smutty bits!**

"Hmmm!" she sighs, unwrapping her leg from Jason's.  
She's contented and happy. Stretching, she's tired and aching a little from their over indulgence.  
"That was nice!" she smiles as she kisses him before curling up against his body.  
He lays flat on his back in the small bed his arm under her, wrapped around her side, his hand still gently caressing her now sensitive breast. She flinches as he teases delicately her now sensitive nipple "Jason stop !" she giggles, as he leans in and kisses her again.

She closes her eyes, for some unknown reason she has imagines of Lucas flashing inside her head. They trigger tear to leak from her tired eyes and roll down her cheek as she wraps her fingers in Jason's "What did they do to him?"

"Hmm.. what?" Jason frowns, he's relaxed and nearly falling asleep "What did they do to who?"

"To Lucas, what did they do to him?"

He hesitates, taking a deep breath, stroking her face "Ellis don't! Don't think about that!"

"I need you to tell me!" another tear rolls down her cheek "Do you think he suffered?"

Jason takes another breath, turning to look her in the eyes "Look, just remember him how he was, alright. Don't think about those things. It won't change anything !" he brushes her hair back and kisses her forehead

"But I can't! You saw him right? You know what they did. I just can't stop thinking about them hurting him!"

"Hey...shhhh! C'mon, go to sleep. You're tired, your minds messing with you. Just try and relax"  
He pulls her tight against his side, he can feel the soft nakedness of her body against his and kissing her, he tries to sooth her fears and relax her.  
Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she pulls his arm tight around her, before closing her eyes. Then wrapped in each other's arms she finally does fall asleep.

He strokes her hair, as he lays there. Thinking about her, thinking about what will happen when he finishes his deployment. He shakes his head, sighing as he also tries to sleep. Counting the minutes as the clock rolls around.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Ellis!" he whispers in her ear. "Ellis are you awake?"

"Hmmm... what?" she stirs taking a deep breath in, rubbing her head, groggy from all the drink she consumed and the lateness of the hour at which she did eventually fall asleep. She looks at her watch, only three hours since she closed her eyes."Hmmm, what's wrong?"

"Ellis, it's four am, you need to get up!"

"Oh!" she sighs again, still rubbing the ache in her head "I guess." she sighs again "This is how it's going to be isn't it? Me and you. We're never gonna have a proper night together, only snatched moments like this!"

"Ellis.... " he frowns "you know why it has to be like this. We can't risk getting found out!"

She nods opening her eyes "Yeah I know" she sighs "Doesn't mean I have to like it!"

She sits up, grabbing her T-shirt from the back of chair, she pulls it over her head. Freeing her hair from under the fabric and pulling her fingers through the knotted tangle.  
Jason smiles watching her, putting his hands under the fabric, running his hands over her breasts and kissing her neck

"Jason!" she smiles "You need to stop that!"

"Mmm! I can't. I don't wanna to let you go!"

She nuzzle into his hand "Me either" she sighs "But I have to. Everyone will be getting up soon and I need a shower" She turns over, pushing him back on the bed, straddling her toned, bronzed legs, over his naked body.

He runs his hands over her hips and butt watching her, then he pulls her head down and kisses her again, while she rubs her body against his. She can feel his softness beneath her as it twitches then stiffens. She smiles "Oh, I see someone's awake now!"

"Mmm!" he lays back enjoying the feeling, as she rocks back and forward on him, grinding her hips against him.

She can feel her own body getting turned on, and she takes his hardness in her hand and lowers herself against it "Mmm! she groans, he fills all of her insides and she begins slowly lifting and rising against him.  
He holds her hips tight, forcing her movement up and down against him and as he thrusts his hips into her, she leans back, riding against his length. "Oh!" she groans out loud again.

She puts her hand between her legs, rubbing with a gentle firmness in small circular movements, bring herself to the edge of orgasm "Oh....god! Mmm" she holds, she's aching, as the waves of pleasure pulse through the core of her body.

He smiles, he can feel it and he picks her up. Laying her back on the bed. She wraps her legs round his waist as he thrusts deep and hard inside her until her body shakes and shivers with pleasure. Then she lays back, catching her breath as he loses himself pounding into her, kissing her until he stops, holding for a moment as the warm fire inside him unloads. "Oh god!" He smiles at her "mmmm... This is certainly a nice way to wake up!"

She smiles at him then untangles herself, kisses him then steps off the bed and begins to get dressed. "You could say that!"

"You coming back later? I thought we might, repeat this, you know practice our technique!" he smiles

She laughs throwing the towel from the chair at him "You know some of us have to work to do!" she leans in and kisses him again, staring him in the eyes as he runs his hands over her hips "It's alright for you Special Operators, lounging around with nothing to do today!"

He smiles "Hey! I'm not lounging, I've got some training to do , breakfast to have... " he grabs her hand kissing it "Techniques to practice!"

She pulls away "Mmm... Breakfast! Now, that's a good idea, I'm starving! Shall I meet you there"

He pulls her forward putting his mouth to hers, kissing her "Okay, I'll buy you breakfast"

She laughs "Oh you're so generous but I think we'll go Dutch! Don't want the locals gossiping!" she smiles watching him laid back in the bed "I'll meet you there? I need a shower and I have some things to do first!"

He smiles, contented and happy he watches her as she leaves.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

She dries her hair and leaves the shower room and as she heads down the corridor she hears her name called

"Ellis!"

"Yeah!" she turns, frowning "Oh Maxwell! Can I do something for you?"

"Come here!" he nods towards his office "Shut the door"

She closes the door as he throws some papers onto the desk in front of her " What's this?"

"Wes's forms that you wanted! He's on the C17, Friday...Just make sure he's there because it leaves at 5am!" he sighs sitting down in his office chair.

She smiles looking through the forms "And he's out of here?" she frowns

"He just needs to sign, and then it's done!"

She smiles again "You did it? Oh my god, thank you!"

He throws another file of paperwork in front of her "I um ... did what I could but the best I can do is to sign you out for three weeks compassionate leave, for the funeral. The rest is up to you. If you still want out, then you have options. Once you're gone, you just don't come back .."

She frowns "You mean go AWOL? But isn't that an offense? I mean, that's punishable...I.."

He nods "Yeah maybe. If they pursue it but, um... if you get yourself signed off. Say, your mental health after Lucas's death ... find a sympathetic military doc, get him to sign the paperwork!"  
He sighs "or get him to work on finding a transfer to a more suitable position! Put it in and .. and I'll authorise it!" He sighs again "Only thing is ...you still need Sharpe's signature on that paperwork for the three weeks leave. There's nothing else I can do"

"Can't you get General Malcolm to sign it? I mean technically, he's our commanding officer !"

"No!" he frowns at her "Ellis I would have done, but you know he was ill? Well he had a heart attack, yesterday and he's been flown back to the states! That leaves Sharpe as liaison officer in charge!"

"Oh Shit!" She sighs, she was counting on Malcolm's signature to circumvent Sharpe "Okay, alright" she rubs her head "I'll get his signature"

"Look, I'm sorry Ellis, I tried, but there's only so much I can do! " he sighs "Does this mean you 'll keep me out of this now?"

She nods "I'll try! Believe me, I didn't want to put this on you, but I had no choice!"

He nods "oh and um... the other thing" he smiles "You can um.... "he laughs "Defiantly tell who's in that video!"

She closes her eyes "Okay! You're sure?"

"Oh yeah! You can tell it's him" he smiles, taking some delight as he thinks about it "I gotta say Ellis, that was some pretty hot stuff. I'm kinda jealous"

She sighs, feeling awkward and embarrassed "Yeah somehow I knew you'd be perfect person to look at that!"

"Well, you were always pretty hot from what I remember! I kinda miss it" he laughs

"Yeah we did have some fun!" she smiles

"So, we quits now?"

"Yeah, but... you can't tell anyone about that video, I mean who you saw!"

"Okay! Not that I want to get involved in that " he kisses her cheek "Ellis be careful. Sharpe's not someone you wanna mess with, no matter how much he likes you!"

"Yeah I know that! I know what he's capable of don't worry" She picks up the paperwork "Thank you for this! And Maxwell, if this all blows up, I will try and keep you out of it!"

He nods as she opens the door and leaves, closing the door behind her

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Hey!" she coughs awkwardly, looking around the hospital ward

Damien opens his eyes, still slightly groggy from the pain relief he's on "Ellis, you came!"

She laughs awkwardly, biting her lip "Reluctantly. But your text said you wanted to see me?"

"Yeah I did! You know laying here, I've had plenty of time to think and um...well I know I owe you an apology"

She looks away, she's annoyed and she laughs dismissively at him "An apology?"

"For what I did. Look, I know I can't make it right but... I just felt like I should.... I don't know, I just felt like I should apologise"

"And you think...." she keeps her voice down looking round at the other patients in the ward "you think an apology makes up for you forcing yourself on me?" she laughs shaking her head. She turns to leave "I don't know why I came here. You're a joke!"

"Ellis, wait! Look, I really am sorry. That night, I never meant to do that I was drunk, I was angry with you. I never wanted us to end. I really liked you Ellis but I .. I went too far and I'm sorry!"

"You liked me?" She sighs "Then you have a funny way of showing it!" she stares at him, glaring at him "You hurt me Damien ... I said stop and you didn't. You think an apology makes that right?"

"No!" he shakes his head "I can't make it right; all I can do is say I'm sorry." he sighs breaking the awkward silence between them " I'm um.. on flight back to London on Friday. This injury, it's gonna be a game changer, my shoulder, they don't think I'm going to be able to hold a weapon again!"

She frowns at him "And what?" she laughs "What you want me to feel sorry for you? No! I'm sorry but I don't! You know, you're just lucky Jason came back and saved your pathetic ass! If it had been me... I'd have left you there! You're a piece of shit Damien"

He nods "I deserve that!" he sighs

"Oh ... " she rubs her head "Why the hell did I come here! You know what nothing you do now will make that night right, but actually you can do something for me!"

"Sure" he nods "Anything just ask!"

"Send me that video you have, then delete it from your phone, and get everyone else on Alpha to delete it!"

"You want me to send you it?" he frowns "Seriously? What do you want that for Ellis?"

"It doesn't matter what I want it for, but you said it was your insurance? So, I just I wanna make it insurance for Jason"

He nods "Okay.. yeah sure. I can do that!" he pauses watching her "You really like him don't you? I mean Jason"

She shakes her head "Me and Jason can't be. His deployment is coming to an end. But Sharpe will go after him. He'll use him against me and I um...I just need to make sure I have something to protect him."

"Does Jason know? What you're doing for him?"

"No! No and it needs to stay that way. I'll deal with Sharpe. Just send me that video." she looks at her watch "Look I have to go. I hope you get better soon, and um.. tell Henry I'm thinking about him!"

"Ellis.... " she turns looking at him one last time "I am sorry, I wish I could go back and change things!"

She nods "Well you can't." She takes a deep breath "Just do what you promised with that video!"

As she gets to the ward doorway Jason stands there with his arms folded "Jason" she looks up shocked

"Everything alright?" he frowns

She nods "Yeah everything's fine! I just... I was just checking on them. I have to go!"

"Ellis.." he catches her hand "You still wanna do breakfast?"

"Um...Yeah I'll see you there!"

"Alright?" Jason frowns at Damien, as he looks back at the doorway where Ellis just left, he can tell something was playing on her mind. What, he doesn't know, but there's something.

"Yeah, yeah I'm good." Damien nods, a weak smile on his face "They um... they're sending me back to London, on Friday."

Jason awkwardly shifts from foot to foot where he stands "Yeah, Blackburn said the injury, it might be a career ender?"

Damien nods "Yeah well, guess it comes to all of us at some point! At least I'm alive!" he smiles "Look about that... I just wanted to say thanks, for coming back, can't have been an easy decision, not from your point of view!"

"No, it was nothing, it wouldn't have been right leaving you, or Henry! I think Harry made that clear!" Jason laughs

"Yeah well, I think if someone had done that to a woman I loved I might have been tempted to leave his arse there!"

"You mean Ellis?" Jason frowns "Yeah about that, you know there's nothing between us. We.. " he stutters over his words, unsure how open to be "We're um.. we're not in love.. it's just, one of those deployment time fillers!" he coughs awkwardly

"Wow! You know word of advice Jason; I wouldn't let Ellis hear you call it that!" He smiles "You know she gave me the impression; it was a lot more than passing the time!"

"She did?" Jason frowns

"Come on Jason, you're not that blind! She's crazy about you. You know, I've never seen her this way over a guy before! Still, perhaps I mis-read it!" he smiles

Jason looks at the ground awkwardly "How's Henry?"

"Yeah he's on the mend. He's out and about somewhere, he's coming back to London with me, the rest of Alpha will follow next week. Just waiting to see if we can pick that other guy up!"

Jason nods "Yeah, I was hoping we'd get call up for him, before we leave next week" he looks at his phone "Right well.. um .. I just came to check on things, so I'll get off. I need to get some breakfast!"

"Yeah sure thing. Jason, Thanks!"

Jason nods then leaves.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-**

She hesitates outside the door "Private Baxter, can I help you?"

"Oh! um...Captain Jones!" Ellis looks surprised, she thought the offices would be empty "err.. I was um... looking for Group Captain Sharpe?"

"He's not here at the moment. Is there a problem?" he frowns at her

"Err, no Sir. I just need to get some paperwork authorised, that's all"

"Just leave it here. I'll get it signed and returned to you"

"Um.. No! No, it's okay. It's not important, I'll come back"  
She smiles feeling awkward. She knows Captain Jones doesn't like her; she could never charm him the way she could Sharpe. Somehow his British tone was always standoffish, and he had a sarcastic manner about him. She smiles again and turns to leave

"Private Baxter!"

"Sir?"

"Group Captain Sharpe, he's a very good officer, one of the best. He's going for promotion soon; he'll be leaving this base. Did you know I'm up as the most likely candidate to fulfil the role when he leaves" he frowns at her giving her a stern stare

"Really Sir! No, I didn't know that. I'm sure you will be a very good replacement"

"You know I would hate for anything to jeopardise that! Something like a scandal or rumours that may cause this section to come under scrutiny from those up above. Something, that would make us the focus of their attention! If that happened they may look elsewhere for a replacement, I mean things can soon get out hand and reflect badly on others!"

She swallows hard, though not coming out with his accusation directly, she understands what he means "Well you know what this base is like, Sir! It's a world of its own" She smiles "But I'm sure the Group Captain has everything in hand. Like you say, he's a good officer. I'm sure he would do anything to protect his position, and uphold the reputation of this section"

"I'm sure he will! I mean as much as distractions might come his way, I know he will have them in control, no matter how attractive they may seem!"

She nods "Sir, as I said, I'll come back"  
She takes a breath, he makes her feel uncomfortable but as she turns to leave Ryan comes storming down the corridor. He looks up, he has an angry look on his face, but he sees Jones standing there "Captain Jones! Private Baxter. What can I do for you?"

She looks up, hoping his tone is just for appearances in front of the Captain because if it isn't she's concerned as what he's so angry about " I um.. " she coughs " I just needed you to sign off on this paperwork!" she points to the folders in her hand

"Certainly!" he pauses, pointing to his office doorway "Go in!" He pauses looking at Jones "Did you want something, Jones?"

"No, Sir!" he watches as Ellis enters his office and then he pulls Sharpe to one side  
"Ryan, a word of advice. There's an awful lot of gossip floating around on the grapevine, right now. Just be careful. Don't have her hanging around here too much. After all you have a promotion in the pipeline, don't get distracted!"

Ryan sighs, he nods taking on board his comments "Roger, I tend not to pay attention to idle gossip from the lower ranks. It's advice I'll pass onto you for the future!"

Jones takes a breath he doesn't like the tone Sharpe used to speak to him with "Well I guess that's your choice! But you might do well to pay attention! Some people have the knives out for you!"

"Well I'll think over your advice. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to give my attention to Private Baxter!" he smiles and then enters his office, closing the door on a frowning Captain Jones.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

He comes around the front of his desk "So Ellie.. " He smiles "What can I do for you ?"

"He knows, doesn't he? Captain Jones, he know about us?"

Ryan shrugs "He's guessing. Don't worry about him. He just wants my job!" he smiles "He won't do anything! He knows if there's any issues, they will choose someone from the US section, he won't want that! "he laughs "So, what do you want?"

She shakes her head "You know it won't take long before someone reports us!"

He ignores her "Ellie, have you come to give me an answer?"

"No! No answer, I need you to sign these!" She lays the paperwork in front of him on the desk

"What are they?"

She sighs "Forms. They're authorising Wes and I, to compassionate leave. To go back with Lucas for the funeral" she takes a deep breath "I wanted to go see Amelia and the kids"

He frowns hesitating, he puts his hand out to pick up the files, sifting the papers inside as she takes a deep long breath, hoping he doesn't scrutinize the forms too much. Then she lets out her breath again, breathing slowly and deeply each time. He can see the nervousness in her face, as she fidgets in front of him. But he doesn't say a word.  
Then he takes a pen and scrawls his signature over the first of the papers. He lays the pen on top of the files and looks at her.  
She closes her eyes realising he hasn't signed her paperwork Come on sign it! her head repeats over and over

"So, how are you gonna cope, I mean without Wes here?"

"What? Oh um .. yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine. Take a bit of getting used to. It' ll be different, but he needs this"

He laughs, then stands up. He takes her by surprise by putting his hand to her waist and pulls her toward him "Personally, I can't say I'll miss him! He never liked me much and he was always coming between us!"

She coughs pulling herself away from his grip "So you're gonna sign off for me, to go to the funeral?" she stares him deep in the eyes.

He looks around at the files on his desk "Who put this paperwork together?"

"Um.." she frowns, slightly concerned by his comment "Commander Bennett. Why?"

"No reason. I just wondered. Though I do wonder why he would do this, when I gave him strict instructions to come to me first, if you were to request anything like this!"

"I asked him to sort it first. Get everything in order and ... I told him not to tell you!" she takes a deep breath; she can feel the tension in her neck as she rubs it.

"And why would he listen to you?" he frowns watching her " I mean do you have something on him? Something that would, coerce him into doing this for you?"

"No! No, I don't have anything on him. Why would I? " she gulps nervously "Look Ryan, just sign the damn paperwork. All I want is to go to the funeral, see Lucas's kids!"

He smiles "Are you trying to run away Ellie?"

"No! For god sake don't be ridiculous.." she laughs nervously "Runaway? from what? Of course not. Look, are you going to sign this or not?"

"I'll think about it. When.... when I get an answer to my question"  
He takes her hand holding it "Do you have an answer for me" he smiles, he can tell he's annoyed her "I tell you what. Ellis, I'll let you go for a couple of days, for the funeral. But that's it!"

"What!? No! Why would you do that? Why not just give me the three weeks that I requested?" she sighs perplexed by his response "You need to let me go Ryan! I just want to be there for Amelia and be with Wes!"

"And not to be with Jason?" he smiles at her "You know his deployment ends next week!"

"No! N not to be with Jason, or anyone! Is that what you think? That's why you won't let me go because you think I'm going to see Jason!"

"And you're not?"

"No! No, I hadn't thought anything about him. I told you it's over! This is about me going to Lucas's funeral, and seeing his family!"  
She hesitates, watching him. Pleading with him "Ryan please, just do this for me!"

He doesn't move and she can see the smirk on his face. Then she laughs at him "You're jealous, jealous of Jason." she laughs again "So what? You wanna hold me prisoner here because you don't want me to go?"  
She sighs taking a deep breath in "I can't do this anymore. Please. I'm begging, just sign the form and let me go!"

"I'm sorry Ellis. I just don't trust you to come back!"

She laugh frowning "That's ridiculous, that you don't trust me! You, the two-faced liar, who told me his wife moved out .. doesn't trust me!" she continues to laugh in disgust. "Fine!" she smiles "Fine, that's how you want to play this? Very well, I didn't wanna do this to you, but I will"

"Don't threaten me Ellie! It won't get you anywhere!"

"I'm not threatening, I'm deadly serious. You don't sign that form then..." she hesitates as she prepares to say it " Then.. I'm going to report us! All of it. What you did, and that you covered up for Damien. Our affair. Even where we did it if I have to! I'm going to blow the whole thing up in your face!"

He stares at her laughing. "No, you're not! You're not going to do anything Ellis. You'll be out of here just like that!" he clicks his fingers

She laughs "I don't care anymore, so just watch me! I swear to God Ryan, you don't sign this form, then you won't need to worry about promotion, because you won't have a career left!"

His expression drops, the blank, uncaring look on her face worries him. The blank determination "You're not serious? You're bluffing!"

"Don't try me because I'm deadly serious! And know something, I have the only copy of that video you were concerned about. Oh and.... you can definitely see it's you by the way. So just a warning, if you were thinking of going anywhere near Jason or his career, then that video will go viral. Starting with Melissa. You think she's taking you to the cleaners now, think how angry she'll be when she knows how long this, between us, has been going on!"

"You bitch! No, you wouldn't. What about your reputation? Everyone would see what you are then!"

She shrugs "What reputation? I'm done for already, you know that. No, I have nothing to lose, not now. Not with Lucas gone and Wes leaving ! You on the other hand" she smiles "Your promotion, a distinguished career and I'm sure a substantial pension. That's a lot to lose there Ryan, and that's before Melissa gets started!"

She takes a deep breath, the anger on his face is spreading "Why? Why would you do this to me? I thought we had something?"

She nods "Yeah, six months ago I would have snapped your hand off for this!" She takes the ring box from her pocket standing it on the desk "But not anymore. Now I see what was going on. What Wes was telling me, you know Lucas warned me. The times he said he's playing you Ellis, It's a game! My God what the hell do you see in him? Every time I tried to convince him you weren't like that. That you cared, even loved me! What an idiot I was"

"Ellie come on....I do care about you! I wouldn't have asked you to marry me if I didn't love you"

She laughs "Oh really?" she frowns "No, you asked me to marry you, to keep me quiet! While you get through the promotion selection. What, were you going to just dump me, go back to Melissa? Hoping I kept quiet and went away. What then you'd say I had mental health problems, say I stalked you, or it was all in my head? Which is it going to be Ryan?" she stops staring at him as he runs his hands through his hair "Or was it because you just wanted me to get my hands on that video, so it disappeared forever"

She takes a deep breath in, just about holding her emotions, tears filling her eyes "Sign the damn form, Ryan, or I swear I'll unleash it all!"

"You really are a little Bitch, aren't you!" he stares at her "Be careful Ellis!! Be very careful what you're doing, that this doesn't come back on you!"

"Just sign form" she smiles "That's all you have to do! That's me out of here, you will never have to see me again!"

She rubs her head as she pulls the forms out of the folder, holding the pen out to him  
"I don't even know why you want me to stay? Is it a control thing, because you need to prove you're in control, or you don't want me seeing anyone else? What the hell is going on?"

He's angry now, the reality dawns on him and he takes hold of her neck in his hand. And for the first time he frightens her, the look in his face and she thinks about screaming "No, it was because I love you Ellis that's why!"

She swallows putting her hand to his to remove it from her throat. And for a moment, just a moment she believes him, and a small part of her wonders if she's doing the right thing calling it all off and leaving  
"You can't love me? No! No, you're not doing this. Just let me go!" she sighs "Sign the damn form!" she holds the pen for him

"Fine! Do whatever it is you want to do! But when you change your mind, and you realise the mistake you made, don't come crawling back to me!"

She nods, taking the folders from under the ring box, leaving it on the desk in front of him. This tugs hard at her heart. She stares at him

He takes a breath as she walks away "Ellis, wait! Please .. just think about this!"

"I have Ryan" she closes her eyes "I'm sorry but I can't do this anymore. You know what you did. There's only you to blame!"  
She pauses holding the door handle " I am sorry Ryan I really wish we could have worked out but it's over. I think you know that! Like I said, leave Jason alone!" she opens the door to the office "Goodbye Ryan!"


	42. Where's Ellis?

Ellis heads back to the stores. She throws the file down in front of Wes and smiles "Sign that!" she smiles again "Then pack your things we're leaving!"

"Leaving?" Wes looks at her confused, sifting the contents of the paperwork "What the hell is this?"

"Your authorization! Getting you out of your contract. We leave Friday with Lucas. You can take that job in New York now!"

"What the hell?" he frowns "How the hell did how you get this?" he stares at her as he looks at the form "Ellis, what did you do?"

"Nothing, don't worry" she smiles "It's done, just pack up your stuff and be ready to be on that flight on Friday, oh and just so you no it's four am!"

"But how, how did you do this ? Bennett said...." he frowns " Are you coming with me?" He's more than puzzled as he looks her deep in the eyes "Please don't tell me you're going AWOL?"

"No! No, I'm not that stupid, though I did consider it!" she laughs "But seriously, it's all above board. I sorted it. We're gonna take Lucas home, see Amelia and the kids"

"Are you coming to New York with me?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'll be your chaperone, fend off the ladies" she smiles then it turns to a laugh as he puts his arms around, holding her.

"Well I don't know what the hell you did, but thank you."   
  
"It's okay!" She looks at her watch "Look, I need to go. I have some work I need to finish up and sort my things out. Then guess I need to pack"  
  
She heads to the door and looks back at him, he calls her "Ellis, what about Jason?"

"Yeah, I'll deal with him!"  
  
"But does he know you're going?"

She bites her lip apprehensively, looking at him thinking what to say "I'll tell him. Don't worry it'll be fine!"  
  
He frowns at her "Seriously? Ellis, are you sure you know what you're doing?"  
  
"Wes, it will be fine" she stands staring at him with a confident smile on her face "Look, Jason knows that me and him, it can't go anywhere. He knows once he finishes his deployment we're done. That it'll be all over! He's not gonna stop me leaving is he!"

"It doesn't have to be though does it? Be over I mean."  
  
"It's fine! I'm good with it" she swallows hard as she tries to assure him "Come on it's not like I didn't know from the beginning that it couldn't be more than a temporary thing. A deployment fling!"  
  
"Ellis, this is me you're talking to, I know you!"

"Wes, I promise. Just don't worry about it, it's gonna be fine!"

"And what about you Ellis? Are you gonna be fine, I mean about leaving him?"

She doesn't answer. She just stands watching him, biting her lip thinking "I said don't worry about me!"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

**Thursday **

"Hey!" she smiles as she stands in the doorway of Jason's bunk unit.

"Oh Hey!" he looks up from where he's laid on the bed. He smiles as he looks at her standing there. Her hair is tied up on her head in a messy bun and she's wearing cut-off blue denim shorts, a white linen shirt, that's knotted at the waist but the thing he notices most, is the outline of the orange bikini she's wearing underneath it.

He smiles again as something stirs in his groin Well someone's looking pretty good!"  
  
She smiles back, watching him, teasing him. Standing in the doorway flirting. The white shirt showing off her tanned toned body, and the lycra of the swimsuit stretching, clinging and just about holding her breasts in place.   
"So, can I come in?" she smiles again running her tongue along her lip

"Oh yeah! You sure can!" He stands up as she closes the door behind her.   
  
Leaning back against it, putting her foot up, bending her knee, still teasing and tempting him. "Come here!" she wills him towards her "You know I thought you deserved a treat, so I thought I might get this out again, I haven't worn it in a while"   
She pulls at the straps on the orange bikini "I wasn't sure if it still fitted me, and I'm not sure if it looks okay, what do you think?"   
  
He looks her up and down "I don't know. I don't think I'm getting a proper look at it, I mean with that shirt on"   
  
She starts to unbutton the shirt slowly, pulling it down her arms, the soft cotton material gliding on the tanned length of her arms then she lays it over the back of the chair. Now standing there in just the shortest of shorts, and the orange bikini top.  
  
He can see how the tight material pulls her cleavage together. He sighs "Wow! Well that looks pretty good from where I'm standing!"  
He comes towards her, running his hands down her back, over her neck, down over her breasts that are covered by the triangles of orange."   
  
She groans with each of his soft touches against her nipple. It makes her take a breath in "Ummm!" she groans, staring him deep in the eyes while he stares at her, his hand now on her stomach before he starts to unbutton her shorts. He keeps it slow, her eyes on him, she doesn't move, not saying a word.

The button pops on her shorts and tipping his hand inside he stroke the smoothness of the orange bikini shorts. She groans again against the touch of his thumb, as he moves it between her legs. Her body tenses "Oh!" she groans in pleasure, pushing her hips towards his hand   
  
He can feel her tense as she braces herself against him. He can feel the stiffness in his own shorts now as he leans in, holding her cheek, staring her in the eyes, then kisses her.  
  
He pulls back, hesitating slightly, her looking him in the eyes. She watches while she thinks. Staring at him, stroking his cheek. She desperately wants to tell him about the flight, about leaving with Lucas, but right now she just wants to be with him, give him all her attention and she doesn't want him distracted with the thoughts she has of not being together."Jason...." she sighs, hesitating again

He frowns he can make out the concern and worry in her face "You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine!" she sighs again "Jason, make love to me!"   
  
She smiles as he picks her up and she wraps her legs around his waist as he carries her over to the bed, laying her down. Then watching her, he undoes his khakis and drops them to the floor "I thought you'd never ask!" he smiles, leaning in over her body, kissing her.   
  
He wiggles her out of her shorts and then there she is, laid in his bed looking bronzed toned, beautiful, wearing only _that_ orange bikini  
That image of her wearing it is burned in his brain forever. Just like it was the first moment he saw her. He runs his hand gently over her body taking in every inch of her. "You know, the first time I saw you wearing this I wanted you."

"Oh only when you saw me in this?" she smiles "See ... I knew I was gonna be with you the minute you stepped off that C17!"   
She runs her hand rounds his face "Anyway you're lying, cos I saw you checking me out that morning, when you arrived"

He smiles "Yeah you did look pretty hot.I'll admit, but this..." he pulls at the strings on her bikini, "..this sealed the deal!" he laughs as she smiles at him.   
  
He runs his hand down her leg, caressing her thigh. Now she's really turning him on. She wants him the same as he wants her. She can see his want in his face and she can feel it like a burning fire between them, the electricity from his touch she can't explain, except that every touch of his fingers on her skin, triggers feelings of pleasure throughout her body.   
  
He smiles as he touches his hand over her stomach, down into her panties, and she can feel her own wetness, preparing for him, getting ready for him to take her. She leans back and groans, as he kisses down her neck, before finding her lips, which he touches, running his thumb around their shape then he kisses her passionately.  
  
She can't get enough of the taste of him. She has this want that she can't satisfy. A desire to have his strength against her body. She loves it, and never felt this alive, or wanted with anyone else.   
  
She remembers for a moment her times with Ryan but as sure as she is that she did love him, she never wanted him the way she now wants Jason, because there was always something with Ryan that held her back. He was always in control. And he always had the upper hand, but this with Jason, this was different, they were equal because they wanted each other equally.   
Sure Jason had had jealousy issues, doubts around their relationship but then he had stepped into her world, they were restricted by the confines of the base life.   
She knew they couldn't have a normal relationship, and she wondered if they could survive being free of this place.   
  
What she craved most was for them to be able to touch, to be and for people to see. She wanted to be with him in front of people and know what that felt like. She wanted to spend the whole night, not sneak away, to shower together, to be together when they wanted. But it couldn't be like that, this was the life they lead.   
  
He was a Master Chief, leader of an elite team and her an enlisted and they were never gonna be the couple she wanted them to be. Never have that life. There was always going to be a trade-off, always a price.   
  
But though all that was true, right now, in this moment, she wasn't going to think about all that. She was just gonna take what was on offer and enjoy it. She would worry about the consequences later.

Now she's begging him to touch her, to be inside her and become one again. They have their bodies entwined in each other and she can feel his fingers on her, slowly caressing in her soft delicate parts and he's probing, wanting her, as he undoes the side ties on her bikini panties.

Taking deep breathes, she's willing him to her. She can feel his hardness against her leg and she smiles.  
"Jason..." She begs him needily, but he doesn't need asking. He's inside her, thrusting and pushing against her, holding her body pulling her tight against him  
  
"Oh..... Ellis!" he groans as he thrusts hard against her, wrapping the curves of her butt in his hand, griping her waist while kissing her, wanting her so much.

She's trying to find that position, that gets her most excitement, where he touches giving her ultimate pleasure. He can feel her breathing change as it gets deeper, now more breathless with an edgy sexiness. It makes him smile as he watches her.   
  
She closes her eyes, lost in the moment as he puts his hand down and rubs gently, where he knows she likes it, getting deep inside her, losing his own control.   
His body taking over and she can feel the strength in arms as his movements become slower and more controlled. He's focused, as his inner tensions build down below his waist. Lost in his head, not thinking about anything else as he takes her body. Getting to the point of no return, and then in one last deep breath he pushes in deep and holds. He can feel it all releasing.  
  
As he stops holding against her taking a final deep breath as she opens her eyes. Clinging to him, kissing him, wanting him. "Oh Jason!" She smiles, her body shivers and she shakes about to finally release her tension, right on the edge.  
For the first time she can feel it's going to happen together their bodies in sync and one more thrust from him tips them both over the edge.   
  
She crashes from her pleasure, leaning back breathless, shuddering she runs her hands through her hair, flushed and contented. She smiles, satisfied, running her fingers through his hair. The smell of him against her, the damp hot air of sex hanging over both of them. She needed that, she needed him.   
  
Then unexpectedly a large tear rolls down her cheek. She looks at him and she can't imagine not having him beside her, trying to contemplate in the coming days what it will be like not being here with him. Not seeing him, not talking or touching, and more than anything not making love to him.  
"Hey!" he wipes the tear "You okay?" he frowns  
  
She nods "Yeah I'm fine!" She lets out a long deep, regretful sigh, trying not to think about it, but she can't shake the feeling and it breaks her heart.   
It's not like the pain she has for Lucas, no this is a pain of knowing she has to give him up. That she has to do this, for him. It hurts, and she badly, wants to tell him. She wants him to make her stop, she wants him to say _Please stay with me_! But she can't. She can't tell him, so now, for the moment she's going to enjoy being with him, wrapped in his arms, laying naked against his body, him holding her.   
She closes her eyes, leaned against his chest, she never wants it to end. Trying to think of any and every permutation that she might be able to make this work.  
  
As he lays silently stroking her hair and he too knows it can't work between them. All it can be is these snatched moments until he leaves. Then when he leaves what does he tell her? Where can he say it's going to go? Will he call her? Will they catch video calls or wait for her to get leave and then what if he gets spun up?   
No! Jason sighs questioning so many times, but he just can't find a solution. He knows, like she does that they will have to let each other go. "Ellis..." he wishfully whispers "I need to tell you something...."  
  
"Shhh! Jason don't! Don't say anything. Let's just be together. Let's just enjoy right now without any distractions without anything or anyone else being involved!"  
  
They both lay quiet, closing their eyes snatching some rest and relaxations until they both fall asleep for a while . 

She wakes, her head still against his chest she looks up studying his face, running her fingers round the outline. He opens his eyes looking deep into her big blue eyes that are staring at him "What?" he smiles confused by the look on her face "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing" she smiles again "Just enjoying it. Looking at you. I don't want this to end!" She reaches forward kissing him running her fingers across his face, as he brushes her hair back and runs his fingers gently round her outline, over her cheekbones then he kisses her again touching his lips against his  
  
"I know" he takes a deep breath " I wish I could change this. I wish I could make it different! But we will find a way. It's gonna be fine, I swear!"  
  
She watches him sitting up, straddling her legs over his waist leaning forward to kiss him .He runs his hands softly down her back watching her sat there her golden colored body glistening in the low light. She can feel a stirring in his body beneath her, and she smiles as he traces his finger gently over the soft firmness of her breast making it peak with pleasure.

She smiles kissing up his chest until she reaches his lips before leaning back letting him gently stroke up from her stomach a line between her breasts then back down and across the tautness of her body. She sighs with a gentle groan

"Oh Ellis!" he takes another deep breath as she gently, does what she does best, drops gently kisses down his flesh over his chest, his stomach and then below. Kissing him gently, running her tongue over him along his firmness. Before taking him deep. He loves the warm feeling of her satisfying him and he shudders as she brings him close to the edge, then she stops letting go and smiles

He shakes his head with frustration, wanting more he tries to guide her head back and she just teases him again and again to the point when she knows one more touch and he will give in.  
  
She stops, watching him, his frustration boiling over as she bites her lip teasingly. He can't take it and sitting up he pushes her back down on the bed turning her over on her hands and knees with him behind her. He brushes her hair off her back kissing her body and with one firm thrust he takes her. This is not going to take long as he's right on the edge of pleasure already and as she holds herself firm he groans before they both collapse in a messy sweat driven heap on the bed.

She turns on her side, under his arm, snuggling against him, clinging her arms over his chest as he gently strokes her side.   
Now she lays watching as he falls asleep all his energy is gone. She smiles as she gently strokes his arm as his eyes close. Safely comforted in his arms, she runs her hands along his arm, touching his skin, taking in every little crevice of him. Fixing the picture, she can now see of his face firmly in her mind. 

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

  
  
She yawns as she wakes, watching him turned on his side now fast asleep. She smiles at how peaceful he is. She takes a deep breath as she looks at her watch then she gently unwraps his arm from round her body and sits up.   
She sighs again rubbing the tiredness from her face. Her mind is on edge as she looks back round watching him continue to sleep   
  
Then she leans forward to the chair grabbing her white shirts putting it on over her naked body and doing the buttons up.Next she finds her shorts from under his clothes and pulls those on. Then picking up the bikini top, putting it to her nose, she takes in the scent it smells of him where he held it and caressed it on her body.

She takes his hand as he sleeps, gently caressing her fingers over his, then she closes his hand around the orange piece of material. Gently touching his face as she listens to his breathing while she watches him, making sure not to wake him .   
  
She smiles at how peaceful he looks just laid there naked. She could stay here for hours, all night not caring, but she now looks at her watch again, checking the time. She picks up her phone putting it in her back pocket as she stands up. Grabbing her white sneakers in her hand she gets ready to leave. She sighs again   
  
"I'm sorry!" she whispers the leans and kisses his cheek as a tear runs down her cheek. He stirs slightly and she freezes, not moving. The last thing she wants is to wake him. Though it does cross her mind to wake him, to get him to stop her leaving but she can't risk it.   
This is the best thing she can't have him trying to stop her going . She opens the door and watches him from the doorway as she whispers "I never told you ... but I love you Jason!"   
  
She takes one last look and a deep breath before closing the door. Then taking a minute on the steps to put on her sneakers and gather herself, before she steps quietly across the sand back to her own bunk

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Jason wakes at the light coming through the window. The sunlight is warm already on his face. as he stretches his arm into the space now unoccupied beside him. He sighs looking at his watch "Shit! What the hell time is it?"

He looks around frowning at the fact he's overslept. Not that he has anywhere to be on today's down time   
"Ellis?" he looks around, but he sees her clothes gone. Then he smiles as he picks up the orange bikini top laid by his hand on the bed. He holds it, sniffing the scent of her on it, then he picks up his phone looking for messages. He frowns Nothing!  
  
Something doesn't feel right and he looks at his phone again. This time he sends her a text   
_"You want breakfast? xx" _  
The message doesn't deliver, and he frowns again, sitting up before slipping his white T shirt over his head and pulling his combats on.   
  
He texts again   
_"Ellis, I enjoyed last night. You didn't have to leave without a goodbye"_

He stands in the doorway of his unit, the sunlight bright in his eyes and looking out across the base, it's all quiet. He can make out the shapes of Sonny and Clay working out, and he looks across before grabbing his bag and towel, thinking about a shower to wash the remnants of last night from him. 

  
He stops at the stores. He can see Miller outside checking lists on a clipboard, he smiles watching him move some large boxes around "Hey! Thought Wes normally gives you a hand with that stuff?"

"Oh, hey Jason " Miller smiles acknowledging him "Yeah he does, but ..I guess I have to get used to doing it on my own now!"  
  
Some alarm rings in Jason's gut "You seen Ellis? "  
  
Miller frowns watching him "Um... she's not here!"   
  
"Yeah do you know where she is. Where is Wes?"

"Um .. he's not here either" Miller sighs taking a deep breath "Did they not tell you?" he frowns   
  
"Tell me? Tell me what?" Jason looks at him concerned,his gut definitely has a bad feeling now.

"They um.. they've gone!"   
  
"Gone? Gone where?"   
  
"On a flight, it left this morning. The one taking Lucas back!"   
  
Jason laughs "She can't have gone?" he frowns "She was .. she was here a few hours ago! I mean we ..... " he pauses "Miller what do you exactly mean they've gone!"

"What I said. They've left the base. You know, I thought she would have told you?"

"No, no she didn't say anything! Where's the flight?"

Miller frowns "It's gone, it's too late. The flight left earlier as 0400!"  
  
" But they're coming back right?" Jason's confused

Miller shakes his head "Not as far as I know, Wes he was offered a job in New York, modelling!" he laughs

"No wait! She didn't say anything about that when was this arrange?"

Miller shrugs "I don't know. All I so know is Wes said goodbye last night"

Jason rubs his head a feeling of dread comes over him, a knot in his stomach that makes him feel sick "No! No, she can't have gone not without telling me!" He drops his wash bag and starts to run across the base towards the aircraft runways

Running into the helo hanger he sees the coffins are now gone "Shit!" he turns on the spot looking at the ground crew "Where .. where are they? "

"Um.. they went on a flight this morning!"

"And Ellis? Wes?"

The crew all look each other then back at Jason and shrug "I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know? Someone has to know. She didn't just leave overnight!" he sighs "Shit!" a panic comes over him as as he looks at his phone and texts her again _  
Ellis where are you? _With no reply to his text he hits call, spinning around not able to concentrate as the sound on the cell goes to voicemail

"Shit! Damn it!" he sighs trying to think "Ellis, why?" he sighs again, squatting down on the floor, rubbing his hands through his hair, as he tries to gather himself "God no! No, you can't do this!"   
  
He runs back down the corridor._ I need to find Blackburn, he will know!_ _He must have authorised this! _

As he gets halfway down he passes the open door of Sharpe's office. He's sat there behind his desk and he looks up as Jason catches his attention.  
  
He has this blank look of horror as he faces Sharpe then steps in the doorway "Where is she?"

Sharpe frowns "Who?" 

"Don't play dumb, Ellis? Where is Ellis?"   
  
He laughs "Oh dear, did she not tell you she was leaving?" he smiles toying with Jason as he can the confused look on his face  
  
"So it's true? What Miller said, that they left on the flight this morning?"

Sharpe nods and then sigh "Yes it's true"

"You have something to do with this? Did you send her away?"

"No! No, it was nothing to do with me, but from the look on your face I wish it was!" He laughs "No this was all her own doing. Guess she thought it was for the best!"

"Best? Best for who? For you, for her?"

"No, no not for me, or even her ..." he pauses "No as much as it pains me, the only person she did this for was,_ you!_"

Jason takes a breath "Is she coming back ?" he swallows hard as the reality now facing him, that he may never see her again

"No, she's not coming back?"

Jason looks away his face fills with anger and confusion "Why the hell didn't she say something?"

Sharpe laughs

Jason takes a breath spotting the ring box on his desk " This is you! You made her do this, all that ... all that bullshit with that ring!" He picks the box up fiddling with it "Did you mean it? or where you just messing with her?"

"What?" Sharpe frowns watching him as he looks at the ring

"Did you mean it? When you asked her to marry you?"

Sharpe laughs shaking his head "I guess I did!" he sighs "Oh I don't know! I do know she drives me insane. I can't stop thinking about her most of the time. She probably deserved better though, better than me."

"Yeah, yeah she did!" Jason takes a breath "So what now?"

Sharpe watches him and laughs "What do you want Jason? As far as I'm concerned, you finish your deployment and then you leave!" he stares at him "But when you go back, I suggest you stay away from her, you don't look for her!"

Jason shakes his head placing the ring box back on the desk his eyes fill with hot tears as he closes his eyes "Where is she?"

"Truth?" He smiles "Truth is.... I don't know! It's probably best that way!"

"No, no you know! You need to tell me, I need to know where she is!"

"Jason, if she had wanted you to know, she would have told you!"

"You son of a bitch!" Jason steps forward to the desk, fist clenched as Sharpe stands up "You know. I'll find her!"

Sharpe laughs "Possibly! " he watches Jason fuming with his attitude but then he backs down Well Master chief, if there's nothing else? Then I have work to do"

"That's it?" Jason frowns "You're not going to do anything?"

Sharpe laughs as he faces Jason "Oh you know, I'd love to take you apart, one piece at a time." they eyeball each other "I could finish you, just like that" he snaps his fingers " But I let her get too close and she knew me too well, knew my weak spots!" he sighs "So, for now, she's made sure you're protected!"

"What do you mean?"

He laughs "It doesn't matter. But let's just say, she was willing to risk everything, her whole reputation to stop me coming after you. So, you're safe for now, but.... Master Chief you have a week left, you cross me again and even what she has won't stop me, am I clear"

Jason nods. "Oh, we're clear! You know I know what you did, you covered for Damien. You should never have done that!"   
  
"I guess you'll never understand, but I did that to protect Ellis, she asked me to do it for Wes and Lucas. So don't tell me what I should have done!"   
As Jason turns to leave Sharpe calls him back "A word of advice Master Chief, leave her be! Let her go and get on with your life!" he sighs "Nothing can come of it. I mean would you really be willing to give up your team, your career, risk it all to be with her?"

Jason nods thinking about his words "Well you were!"

Sharpe nods "Yes, yes actually I was. I never thought about the consequences, not when we were together, perhaps I should have!"

"But you never told her, that you loved her, right?"

Sharpe bites his lip, shuffling papers awkwardly on his desk "No, no you're right, I didn't and now it's too late."

Jason nods again "Yeah well I'm not gonna make that mistake"

Sharpe laughs "Oh, I think you already did!"

Jason sighs and giving Sharpe one last look he walks away .

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

The plane judders off the runway and Ellis sighs, letting out a deep breath as Wes wraps his arms around her. She leans her head on his shoulder

"You okay?" he smiles at her

She nods "I guess so!"

"You know you didn't have to come, I mean if you got regrets you could go back!"

"No, no regrets. Besides I can't leave you in New York all by yourself." she laughs " Plus... " she looks over at the coffins "We have to take him home!"

Wes smiles holding her tight. Her phone vibrates again. This time she takes it from her pocket, looking at the screen. She sighs as she sees Jason's number again. 

"Why don't you answer it? Talk to him" Wes frowns

"No!" she shakes her head "No, it's best this way." she looks at him watching her "Wes nothing can happen between us!"

"But you could have told him you were leaving. I mean, not telling him, I'm not sure that it was such a good idea?"

"Yes, it was. Look, he'd have only tried to get me to stay, and we both know we have nowhere to go! We can't be together. Wes, this is for the best. This, this keeps his reputation intact! He'll be fine. He'll get over it!"

Wes nods watching her "And what about you? Will you get over it."

She sighs, smiling looking at her phone as the video file finishes sending. She closes her contacts list and leans her head in his lap, while he strokes her hair "As long as I have you, I'll be fine!"

She closes her eyes wiping the tears from her cheek as she looks over at the two flag draped coffins closing her eyes before falling asleep.

**The End**

**Thanks for keeping up with the story and reading (I can see the readers even if you didn't comment) So hope you all enjoyed ? Do we think Jason and Ellis could have made it away from the base?**


	43. I know your reputation - BOOK 2 - I'm bored.

###  [Chapter 2](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24337303/chapters/58682293): My place

** I know some of you have been asking for a continuation of the Ellis/Jason story so … some more chapters coming soon. If you want them? **

Hmmm … Sighing loudly . She pulls at her coat tighter around her body. Wrapping it around herself as she then leans back, propping herself up on her elbows. Listening. She can hear the trudge of feet on the steps outside the thin walls of the prefabricated-office.

“Ellis!” Riley gasps, frowning as he opens the door. Mouth open, staring as she lays sprawled, seductively , across his desk. The paperwork pushed off and scattered around the floor. Her bare legs protruding - from the only thing she’s wearing. A bright-orange, military issue, fur-trimmed puffy jacket “How the hell did you get in here?”

“How d’you think?” She smiles holding up the set of keys on the ends of her fingers “You gonna close the door, it’s cold.”

Checking outside the door making sure no one sees him, he takes a deep breath before pushing it shut. Continuing to look at her. Lustful thoughts crossing his mind “So, why exactly are you in here, Ellis?”

“Oh, you know… I was bored.” She grins. Unzipping the front of her coat - showing him what she’s wearing underneath. - Red lace panties and a matching bra.

“Oh, fuck!… Ellis, what the hell are you tryin’ to do to me? You can’t be here, not like this. We already came close to gettin’ caught last week. I can’t take another hit like that.”

“Oh really ? So what, you don’t wanna play with me? Shame. I got myself all cold walking over here… like this ”

“You came here - like this? Fuck - are you nuts?” 

She smiles - teasing him. Um hmm! Sitting herself up. Perched on the edge of the desk - legs dangling - her nails clicking as she taps her fingers on the surface.

“Ellis are you drunk or trying to get us both fired? You know my whole career is on the line if I get caught, here, with you?”

“So, don’t get caught with me. C’mon have some fun. This place is so boring. Am I not worth it?” She bites her lip trying to tempt him

“You know it’s not that…” he smiles.

She grabs at his tie, pulling him towards her. Her lips locking firmly on his as her tongue searches his mouth. “Oh, c’mon Commander Harris - play with me.”

“Ellis….” Her breathless tease too much for him to resist. He’s never had a woman come on to him the way she does in the real world - let alone his work-bubble “You are such a bad-girl! Jesus Christ… you’re gonna get me in so much trouble.”

“I know. But like I said, it’s fun, right? C’mon, it’s so dull here, I’m even starting to miss the desert. At least I could get a tan there. This place is so freakin’ cold - it makes my nipples hard. You wanna feel?

“Oh God!” He sighs, the thoughts of his fingers on her cold nipples is causing a groaning sensation to build. His hardness pressing against the fabric of his pants. " And that’s exactly why they have the base here. For cold-weather training. What did you expect it to be, " He smiles? His hand - wrapped- tangled in her hair. He pulls her head back and kisses a path down her throat, onto her chest. Freeing her breast from the constraints of the red-lace. “Oh, hell…. you turn me on so much!”

“Mmm hmm…not boring though, is it?” She closes her eyes to the touch of his mouth against her breast, his hand on the curve of her waist. She’s so needy -right now. It’s been over a week since they last got it on and she can feel it

Riley Harris, good looking. The base commander- in-training if he can just tough it out at this no-one -wants arctic posting. She wouldn’t describe him as the best sex she’s had - he’s learning fast though. And he’s the only viable option she can find to satisfy her needs in this remote location. He comes with several commanders -perks. And his naivety with women makes him easy to manipulate. Makes her - and some of her posse’- lives more comfortable.

Groaning loudly as he touches her. She pushes hips forward, making it very clear what she wants him to do. “Ellis… ” He grins - teasing. “And what do you want??”

“Well first… I want you to authorize my liberty - a long weekend. I need to go to New York. Wes has a fashion show- a military charity event. It’s a big deal for him and he’s invited me along. Plus, I have some other things to take care of. Once you’ve put your name on here… then, I thought we would warm ourselves up. I mean it’s cold out so maybe we could have a few more drinks and then…..” she pushes the expensive bottle of vodka across the desk towards him.

“Ellis, where the hell did you get this? That’s not standard requisition. In fact…” he studies the label ” it’s very -very- expensive liquor,”

“I know. But then technically I didn’t, request it… you did” she smiles “Don’t you remember? I asked you to sign off on it - a couple of weeks ago - you may have forgotten. It’s when we did that.. thing, in the back of the storeroom.” she smiles.

“What the fuck?! he frowns now remembering - the back-of-the-storeroom incident - with pleasure. He leans forward, kissing her. “Oh yeah, I remember that. Mmm… it tastes like you already made a start.”

Mmm hmm… she grins. “Tastes good, doesn’t it? Not as good as me…” She smiles. Parting her thighs - giving him a quick glimpse between her legs. The red-lace panties pulling -a tight fabric line- against her clit. “You gonna sign my liberty paperwork then we can get down to business.”

“Hmm Oh yeah…” quickly he scribbles his signature along the dotted line at the bottom of the page - I should really read these things more carefully . - But he’s much too eager - to get his hands on her body. Grasping roughly at her thighs. Pushing them apart, he forces her back against the desk before unzipping his pants. Staring at her deep blue eyes - her staring back at him - they kiss. “Ellis why me? I mean you could have any guy on this base so why this with me?”

“Why not? … You’re a good-looking guy and you have - talents. And, you learn fast.” She smiles, sitting up. Kneeling on the desk in front of him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Mmm … yeah but see I think , you have a certain fetish - for base commanders- don’t you? I did a little diggin’ and supposedly the rumor- you were in deep with a base-commander in J’bad but things went a little sour. Ellis, I can’t afford that to happen to me. I can’t take a hit - something like this - on my record.”

“It’s gonna be fine. And you shouldn’t listen to rumor.”

“So it’s not true? About you - and the Brit-Brass -that’s all just gossip?”

“I don’t know? I don’t know what the - gossip - is. I don’t listen to it.”

“Hmm … well there’s also a rumor you like Special-Forces. And that’s why you quit - J’Bad command?

She sighs angrily . Annoyed with his constant questioning, “I told you - don’t listen to gossip!”

“Yeah well, people are already starting to gossip. And like I say, I don’t have the pull- your Group Captain had - to ride a shit-storm like that.”

“So what? You wanna stop? Because of rumors.”

“No, that’s not what I want. I’m saying things - like this - have to stop! The stunt with the vodka - the other stuff you’ve ordered- it all has to stop. Am I clear?”

“Oh clear… Sir!” she smiles kissing him -pressing her body against him. “You’re so very clear!”

“And you know while we’re talkin’ about your British-Fuck-Friend. I gained a copy of a video - someone sent me from the internet. I mean, it’s not clear - who the guy is. But tell me, was it him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah sure, you do. You and the G.C. You did some pretty hot-stuff. Gives me a hard-on to watch it. Gotta say it’s a little kinky for my taste - but I’d be willing to try. If you wanna do another one?”

" Really ?!" she sighs. Sitting back, she pushes him away. " That’s what you’ve been thinking about? Copying some fake internet- home-movie? Fuck you, Riley!” She gathers her coat around her before standing up. “I thought we were gonna have some fun here, not talk gossip and rumors. You don’t know for sure - that’s me. You’re going by what someone ,“told” you? And you wonder why people get in trouble. You know what - take your porn and go jerk-off by yourself, cos that’s the best you’re gonna get tonight!”

“What?! Oh, Ellis, come on it was a joke!” He grabs at her hand pulling her back. “Ellis…. you can’t go out there like that - you’ll freeze to death!…. Shit! .. Ellis, I’m sorry! Come back - have some fun!” He sighs dragging his hand through his hair. Standing in the doorway watching. As she- drunkenly- weaves a path across the snow-covered base - in bare feet -back to the accommodation block. “Oh hell, Ellis!!.. .Goddammit!”

~ # ~

She sighs. Taking a deep breath leaning back into the pillows on her bunk. Frustrated. She bites her lip and closes her eyes. Taking a moment in quiet reflection, she sits up. Having claimed the bottle before, she left Riley’s office. She swigs another mouthful - of expensive of vodka. Then much calmer - picks up her cell-phone, scrolling the contacts. She smiles - texting Wes. Letting him know she will be at his show- the end of the month. His reply - “I’m busy right now!” followed quickly by a heart emoji. She smiles “Be careful!”

Biting her lip. She’s fed up. Frustrated at not being able to satisfy her desire with Riley. She again surfs the contacts in her address book. Grinning, hesitant- almost afraid. Thee adrenaline pumps around her body as she hits the call button. Taking a moment - listening to the dial tone. She nearly cuts it off before it answers.

“Hey!…” she swallows nervously . Wondering - What the hell possessed you!

“Hello?! Hello… who’s this?” There’s a silence, then comes her name. “Ellis?… Ellis is that you?… ”

Her breathing labors. Her heart racing as she hears his voice on the other end. She cuts the call. “Shit!…. Oh, fuck!” She smiles - staring at the blank screen before she hits redial. “Hey… ”

“Hello. So it is you. And what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. Bored - I remembered the late-night-boredom conversations we used to have. - when we couldn’t see each other.”

“Oh, you remember those? Well, I’m glad. Where the hell are you, Ellis? Did you know I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for Six months? It was like you disappeared off the face of the planet. - you up and left like that. No contact - nothing.”

“I know.” she sighs “But things got complicated and it was for the best - for everyone.”

“So, what can I do for you now? I mean this is out of the blue?”

“Oh, you know. I said - I’m bored. Where I am. It’s a little limited on the fun-time.”

“Right, and you want to have some fun-time on the phone with me?”

" Maybe . If you’re up for it?”

“Can you hold? I have to go somewhere more private. Say nothing, this is an open line.” He nudges the Ensign sat at the desk next to him. Writing - on the notepad - Can you trace this call? - Greeted by an affirmative nod as they hook his phone to the laptop. “Ellis, stay on the line. I need to clear some stuff. Are you going to tell me where you are?”

“Does it matter? I should go - this was a stupid idea”

“NO! No, hold up., I’m leaving the command room -I want to talk.” He frowns. Ensign Murphy scribbling the word - ALASKA - on to the pad. “Thanks!” He mouths. “Tell you what. I call you back - this number? Ten minutes - I’m going back to my bunk.”

“Okay. Sure!” She smiles “Ryan.. don’t leave it too long. You know how impatient I get when I’m bored”

“I won’t I promise - I’ll be right back” He smiles as he cuts off her call. “Murphy, what US military bases are out there?”

“Fairbanks - it’s an arctic training base, Sir!”

“Oh yes. Yes, I know it. That’s all - thank you.” Ryan smiles, checking the number on his phone - realizing now why he’s not been able to trace her. “Actually Murphy, can you find out who’s in command at Fairbanks. I’ll be back in a while - I need to make another call.”


	44. I know your reputation - BOOK 2 - How have you been?

_ ** ** _

** _Please NOTE as with the rest of this story - things take a smutty turn. Please don't read if its not your thing.... _ **   
  
  
  


At the bar, Jason looks up from where he's sitting as someone pulls up the stool and sits next to him. He smiles, happy when he sees who it is. " Hey... how you doin?"

"I'm good. How are you? It's has been a while, did you miss me?"

"Always miss you being around, but you know that already. Seems a while since they shipped you out. Still we've been pretty busy, a lot going on... you know how it is."

"I know but, well I may have some good news. Seems they're letting me back - DEVGRU. On a more permanent basis again."

"They are? That's great news. When?"

"Soon, the next week or two, when everything gets straight with what I'm doing. I managed to ingratiate myself - called in a few favors. So you'll be seeing my face around a lot more."

"That's really great news, the guys will be made up. " he smiles "So, can I get you a drink?"

"Yeah um, sure... I'll have a gin and tonic, thanks." She smiles looking up at the barman, as he waits to take the order. There's an awkward silence and then just before she speaks she takes a deep breath and sighs. "Look Jason, I wanted to talk to you about Something .... it's um, it's not works related, it's personal."

"Okay, what is it?" He frowns "Mandy is something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing's wrong just...." she sighs again. Wondering why this is so hard. Thanking the barman as he places the drink in front of her. Stirring it with the straw, taking a sip. anything to delay and put off what she wants to say. - not sure she should say.

Jason can see her hesitation and he can feel her concern. "Alright, what's goin' on?"   
"Nothing. I'm just not sure if I should be telling you this or not. What I mean is I'm not sure its a good idea that you know."   
"Well you know you're gonna have to tell me now whatever, cos I'm not lettin' you leave 'til you do, right"   
"Right..." she takes another sip from the drink. "How would you feel about a long weekend in New York?"

"What?...A long weekend, with you?" He frowns unsure how to respond "well um... I thought we kinda decided, we weren't gonna go there again? That it was ancient history. So, sorry if I don't understand this has just come a bit out of nowhere"

Mandy gags on her drink "Oh no... God no!. No... no, I don't mean us... together. Though I'm flattered. No that ship sailed a long time ago, this would be separate rooms."   
"Oh, okay. Well then sorry I don't understand."   
"I have invitation - a charity gala. Smart dress Ambassador's ball type thing. Raising funds for injured military personnel. It's dinner, drinks ...and they have a fashion show auction. A friend of mine .. he's a model, in the show..."

"A _friend?_" He frowns looking at the expression on her face "Oh... oh a_ friend! _Okay yeah.." he frowns thinking a moment "hey... do you mean Wes, that guy from deployment. The one that got the modelling contract?"

"Yeah um... that friend."   
"Wow... I thought that was all over, a long time back? I thought you said that wouldn't work out?"   
"It was - over. But... well he's kinda fun. So, I see him -from time to time, and you know, we have fun!"  
"Okay... I can't say I see him as your type.." his forehead wrinkles "but whatever floats your boat, I guess!"

"Well, like I say - fun." She smiles sipping more of her drink, delaying the conversation. "So, anyway, we were having fun, last week, and ... he invited me to this event. And the invitation, has a plus one.."   
"So what, you're asking me? Why? I mean you will be with him, Wes, so why do you want me to come?"

"Figured you could go see Emma, spend some time with her. You don't see her so much now and it would do you good, a relaxing weekend away - time to recharge. It's free." she smiles but she can see Jason staring at her puzzled. Wondering just why she's suddenly so concerned with his welfare. "Okay look, I don't know if this is the right thing to tell you, but Wes accidentally let slip .... someone else is going to be there." she sighs.

"Someone else?... Who?" he frowns.   
Mandy hesitates again, tipping her head to the side, she sips her drink then stuttering as she looks up staring him in the eyes. "Ellis!"

"Ellis?!... Ellis is going to be there - at this event?"   
"Mm-hmm - Yeah. Like I said, Wes let slip when we were talking. He explained he'd invited her, as one of his guests." she takes another long sip of her drink her eyes focused on Jason "Look, I just figured you might want to know. And it might be the opportunity for you to close the door on it, on her and that whole thing. "

He nods slowly. Thinking back to when Ellis left and he sighs long and slow."You know, I'm not sure it's a good idea? It's not like I've not seen her. It's been six months." He frowns, taking a sip from his beer.   
It hits him hard. Hearing her name it rocks him. Then he laughs. "And Wes kept telling me he didn't know where she was, Every time I asked, and I asked him a lot! You know I tried for over a month to find her? Tried her friends, texting - messages. No one knew. And every single time, Wes kept saying he hadn't heard from her!"

"I know that" she smiles sympathetically "but he said she made him promise not to. He didn't even tell me where she was. Not until last week when he let it slip out. He says she's been at some base, Fairbanks- Alaska. Says she hates it - too cold. Gotta say I can't imagine her in the snow" she laughs.

Jason laughs too "No me either but then Ellis hates everywhere ... " he takes a long sip of his beer -thinking back to how she used to complain about Jbad "You know Mandy, can I get back to you on this. I need to think it through, if its a good idea -seeing her again"

"Sure thing. I mean take your time, It's not 'til the end of the month and the ticket's not going anywhere. There's no one else I'm going to take. Just tell me if you decide you wanna go... " she smiles, stirring her drink "So anyway, how have you been?"

~ # # ~

"How have I been?" Ellis smiles "Oh, I've been okay. Apart from it's um.... it's different here"   
"_Here_? And where is _here_, Ellis? "   
"Here, where I am..." she laughs teasing him.

He smiles, ignoring her cagey response "Put your video chat on, I want to see you..."   
"Maybe... "   
"Maybe? What the hell? Ellis, are denying me?! Put the video on, _NOW_, like I told you!" he demands.

It crosses her mind to defy him, but as she takes another sip of the vodka she smiles. "Yes Sir!" her reply as she switches the instant chat on.

He grins content. The way she said _Sir_. He likes it. Taking his memories back to the office games they used to play. Back to the base in J'bad and the fun times he had with her. Remembering the scent of her perfume in his nostrils as he thinks about those times. Now there's a stirring in his pants -a longing. He wants more of her. "Say it again!"

"Say what again _Sir_... " She grins. Looking at the screen her eyes tracing lines around his face. "You're losing your tan, Ryan. But you still look good." she smiles " So where are you now?"

"I'm not telling you, you won't tell me where you are!" he smiles teasing her back. "Ellis are you drunk?" He laughs the look on her face, watching as she sips from the bottle.

"Maybe? I guess I must be Cos I called you didn't I?" she laughs -more like a loud inebriated giggle. "I'm so gonna regret this tomorrow!" she continues to laugh. Taking another long swig of the clear fiery liquid.

"Oh, I don't know maybe you'll remember you enjoyed it. So, what are you drinking there? Surely not mescal?"

"No, it's not mescal weather here... it's vodka!" she holds the bottle up to the screen beside her cheek, smiling.

"Mmm...that's some expensive vodka there but exactly right for the cold weather in ... Fairbanks!" he smiles "So which Commanding officer, has been signing off on that for you?" He grins smugly.

Taking a breath she frowns, shocked that some how he's worked out where she is. "How the hell did you know I was at Fairbanks?"

"Oh, I have means.. " He smiles. "though you did well to hide from me - Six months! I tried everywhere to find you. I can't say I ever considered you a snow type girl? I guess the cold could be fun though, right?"

"Hmm... well they had a position and I applied, I had to badger my CO to let me accept it. As for fun... it's not quite as good as I thought it would be. Actually, it's pretty dull here. More boring than J 'bad, if you could believe that? And at least I could get a tan there!"   
"So, you going to answer and tell me, which CO is signing off on expensive vodka to keep you entertained?"

"What? I'm not telling you that.. " she grins "Why do you need to know?"

"Oh, c'mon Ellis, we both know there is no way you're getting authority to order that. Not without someones signature. I just want to know who?"

She smiles, dropping her eyes to look at the bottle in her hand. Then teasing him she places her mouth around the neck, holding the camera so he can see her.   
"Hmm.. he smiles watching her lips wrapping around the glass bottle, sucking it as he sips whiskey from his his own tumbler. He can see by the glint in her eyes how horny she's feeling. The way she temptingly mouthing the bottle - tormenting him. "So why are you not with him, right now? Why instead are you suddenly calling me up?"

"I don't know, you tell me ... didn't you want me to call?" She laughs.

He sits forward staring at her from the small screen as she continues drinking. "Ellis... slow down with the drinking... " he frowns concerned for her now. Something has got her agitated to be consuming so much alcohol and to be calling him randomly out of the blue after six months of ghosting - not that he minds.   
She groans "Oh, don't be boring as well Ryan, I've had enough of Mr Boring today!" She sighs "You know why he doesn't wanna play? Because he's too busy jerking off to home movies!"  
_What?_ He frowns to himself as she makes less and less sense.The more she drinks the more she rambles.   
"Oh... it's nothing don't worry. I just meant Riley, it's nothing... it was just supposed to be some fun, pass the time.... get vodka!" She laughs.

"Well he obviously doesn't know what he's doing, if he can't keep you entertained properly!" he laughs.   
He can see the obvious smirk on her face.   
"But you could...keep me entertained, if you were here? Is that what you mean?"  
"I don't know, you're the one who called me, so you must think so?"

She laughs taking a breath thinking how stupid it was to have called him at all. "You know I should go. Sleep off this vodka, besides you probably have things to do?"   
"No! No, don't go... I do want to play... " he smiles.

She listens the shuffling sounds as his phone drops to the desk. Frowning, unsure what's going on.

Ryan takes his shirt off, then as he holds his phone she can see he's now only wearing his unzipped pants. No shirt. His toned chest with its smattering of hair, how strong and powerful sexy and appealing he still looks. She smiles, thinking how much she'd like to touch him for real right now.   
He's silent. But then she can hear more noises. The pop of a cork, the chink of ice in a glass and the glug as he pours his favorite whiskey. Taking a large sip before he tops the crystal tumbler up with more. Then sitting back in his high-back, leather office chair he places his phone, angled, so she can see him. "Come on then, you want to play... so let me see you." he smiles taking a sip from his glass "What are you wearing, Ellis?"

She smiles leaning back against her pillow, her teeth biting-her lower lip. She'd forgotten just how much his accent alone could make her quiver inside. "Okay... you want playtime..." She angles the camera so it captures the whole of her body - stretched out on the bed, and He groans, sitting forward, staring at the screen, holding his glass between his knees.   
"What the hell are you wearing?" He frowns looking at the orange fur trimmed padded coat.  
"My jacket" she smiles "It's cold here"

"Take the coat off.. now!" he barks, demandingly at the handset, propped on the desk in front of him.   
The adrenaline pumping around his veins. His excitement building while he waits, watching as she unzips the front of the jacket, sliding it down her arms and dropping it on the floor beside the bed. Then she lays back wearing only her lace underwear.   
He takes a breath, staring. Savoring the way she looks dressed only in the red panties and matching bra. "That's all your wearing? No wonder you're cold." he smiles "And this, Commander ....?"  
"Harris..." she laughs "Riley..." she knows he won't like hearing his name but she torments him with it anyway. Watching the expression on his face as it changes.   
She's right, it angers and annoys him and he straightens up in his chair. "So, this commander Harris, what, he didn't want to play with you - dressed like that? Then you know I'm not so sure he's fit to be in command of a base?" he smiles sipping from the glass of ice-cold whiskey. "Take your bra off!"

She smiles. Sitting up on her knees, then very slowly, unclips her bra. Making him wait she peels the lacy fabric covering her flesh.

_Oh god.. _He groans as she frees her breasts from their lace confines. Her hands cupping them and smoothing gently over the soft skin. Stroking her fingers, caressing her nipples.  
Ryan smiles, sinking back in the seat of his chair, eyes glued to the screen. He widens the gap between his thighs as the hardness between his legs grows. _Oh god ....Ellis I need you! _He whispers to himself. Thinking how much he misses her.   
Sipping the whiskey, watching her smiling, teasing face filling the screen on the phone.   
She licks her lips, then wetting her fingers she places them against her nipple.   
_Oh... _He groans louder "I want more ... take your knickers off... _slow-ly....v_ery slowly. " He grins, watching as she does as he asks. Slowly peeling the thin lace fabric panties down her legs -taking them off.

Laying on her side, on the bed, completely naked. "Now, show me..." he begs and with the camera aimed at her body she poses showing him several angles of her body. At the same time sipping from the bottle of vodka.

Its warming fire is affecting her judgment,clouding her thoughts and fogging her brain. Killing her inhibitions, she slides her hand down over the curve of her stomach to the soft wetness between her legs and she moans loudly as her fingers find the nub of her clit. _Oh ....._ She groans.   
So turned on by the thought of him watching her. Closing her eyes she rubs firmly, thrusting her hips forward.   
Then engrossed in pleasuring herself she drops the phone next to her on the quilt. Ignoring him.

Ryan takes a breath, sitting forward. She has his full attention, but now he can only hear her groans and loud moaning - unable to see her. "Ellis... Ellis... pick up the damn phone!"   
He's desperate to see her. Watch her turning herself on - he can't. He's not in control - she is.  
The drink and the excitement are a dangerous combination, for both of them. She's lost in the moment as her orgasm rips through her. Splintering her body, shattering every nerve like broken glass. Ryan making her cum without even touching her.

He slugs the last of the liquor in the glass, then thrusts his hand into the front of his white underpants. Taking his hardness in his fingers he strokes, pulling himself. Long firm movements along his length. Closing his eyes, listening to her deep breathy moaning. As her panting subsides he groans. "Say my name ..."

"Ryan..." He smiles at the sound of dulcet tone, the way she calls him - it's sexy. Calling to him again "Ryan... I wish you could fuck me..."

He smiles wishing so much he could too. Wishing they were alone in the room, together. That he could touch her and then pound his hardness into her from behind. He wants her body, to touch her and with his hand beating along his hard - faster. He imagines her touching him. Then making each stroke count against his heaving firm cock. "Oh god ...." he cries out as he holds at the point. One last slow stroke and he gasps for release.

_Uh...... mm-mm _she smiles sinking back into the quilt as she cums. The hardest she's cum in the whole deployment here. Something about the combination of his voice and the naughtiness of phone sex, it turns her on so much more.   
_Mmm... _she smiles, picking the phone up from the bed covers just as he ejects his warm load onto his thigh.

_Uh..._ he smiles, opening his eyes with a satisfied groan. Looking up at the screen in front of him, filled by her face smiling, her tongue wetting her lip. "Bye Ryan... "she giggles, cutting the call off.

"Wait!! Ellis... Ellis?!...Fuck... do not go! _Shit..._" he sits up, quickly finding something to wipe himself. Then reaching forward for his phone. Desperate - he calls her back. Annoyed when she fails to answer. "Fuck!...." he sighs "You little bitch...you'll pay for this!" He hurriedly texts her. - _Ellis answer the fucking phone, now! _

Laying back in her bed, satisfied, she smiles. Watching as the missed calls mount up in a list on the screen of her, deliberately, silenced phone. Then closing her drink-weary eyes, she falls asleep.


End file.
